Percy's Worst Nightmare and Greatest Dream
by DrLostHero
Summary: Percy and Annabeth have a run in with Hypnos, who shows Percy his greatest fear. What happens when this encounter makes Percy reevaluate his relationship with Annabeth? Warning, M rated smut / lemon.
1. The Dream

Percy  
Percy was sitting alone on the Long Island Sound watching the waves slowly roll in and out. Usually the water calmed him but this time it did little to dampen the dread he still felt in his mind.  
The memory crept back to his eyes as he shut his eyelids tightly trying to keep it from resurging. There wasn't anything that could stop it.

_Percy and Annabeth were on yet another mission together. College vacation was not what they thought it would be but still, they were together and when it came down to it, that's what really mattered to them._

_They had found themselves in the sleepy and plush domain of Hypnos, the god of sleep. Neither of them had gotten much sleep recently so to Percy, this wasn't such a bad god to be stuck with._

_Hypnos was sleeping in a large cushy couch with a book open and resting on his stomach, his chest slowly raising and lowering the book. To be honest, Percy felt a little bad having to wake the guy but he knew that Hypnos was probably asleep most of the time anyway. Hypnos slept so much that he probably had perminate bed head. Annabeth slowly walked towards the snoring Hypnos, gently pushing his shoulder to wake him._

_"Hypnos? Sir?" Annabeth asked._

_Adventuring with Annabeth was always interesting. If Percy was going to trust anyone in the world to be stuck on an adventure with, it'd always be Annabeth. Recently it only got a little more and more difficult. Not because they fought all the time (they've always done that) but because Percy had a hard time staying focused. He knew it was normal to think the things he thought about his girlfriend but when it followed seeing her sweaty and after a battle, he knew that couldn't be normal. They hadn't taken things much farther than their usual kissing sessions but..._

_Still, even now. Seeing her slightly bent over and leaning in slightly towards Hypnos, delicate hand out, the curve of her back in her half blood shirt, her hair falling over her far shoulder, the way her pants sat on her behind..._

_Hypnos awoke with a start causing Percy to snap out of it and Annabeth to jump a little. She straightened herself out while Percy readjusted himself, trying to shake his thoughts about Annabeth out of his mind._

_"Eh? Who are you? Why am I awake? Couldn't you see I was sleeping?" Hypnos asked begrudgingly. Clearly Hypnos was not a morning person. Morning being 3 in the afternoon this time around._

_"Sir. We're looking for some demi-gods. Other than us, has there been any around?" Percy asked. Hypnos turned to look at Percy for an uncomfortable second then turned back to Annabeth._

_"Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena. Extremely wise, smart, talented. Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon. Can control water and a fairly decent fighter. Part of the team that defeated Kronos." Hypnos said this while getting himself more comfortable in his chair like he was going to go back to sleep. Suddenly he addressed Percy._

_"Percy Jackson." I stiffened. Annabeth and I made contact. We knew some trial was coming. "It seems that you do not know your greatest dream yet." It was true. Percy knew vaguely where he wanted to be and it usually involved Annabeth._

_"Perhaps I can show you what you greatest dream is," Hypnos said, his eyes slowly lowering in a knowing glare, "by showing you your worst nightmare." Percy shot another look at Annabeth, her expression unreadable._

_Suddenly Percy was standing in a crowd with sword in hand. He knew where he was. New York. Battle for Mount Olympus. Everything was moving very slowly. He saw arrows fly slwoly through the air, smoke in the sky behind it. Dust and rubble flying through the air. Everything was clear. The dread was crawling back in from that day. So many lost._

_A scream penetrated the air and Percy knew. Annabeth had just been stabbed trying to protect Percy's only weakness._

_"Only weakness?" A voice rang out. It was ominous and filled the air. It sank into his bones and made Percy feel like he was melting from the inside. It was Hypnos talking from just outside the memory. It wasn't just a memory though. Percy was reliving everything. He was there again._  
_Percy turned but it felt like turning in sludge. She was on the ground. She was holding her arm and blood pushed itself from between her fingers. She couldn't hold in the blood._

_Percy called for Blackjack. The moment was the same as before and yet the sense of dread was the same as it was then. The bridge collapses. The phone rings. Percy grabs a bike and races on. He grabs an Apollo kid. They get to Annabeth. She's laying, shaking, sweating._

_Percy starts to shake. He knows what it looks like. He never wanted to see her like this again. He races to her side._

_"Poison on the blade. Stupid of me huh?" Annabeth says in her shaking voice._

_"Annabeth..." he manages to strangle out. The kid from Apollo cabin looks at her wound._

_"Percy..." Percy hears him say. Percy looks up. This wasn't what happened then... what was happening? Will pulls him away from Annabeth_

_"The poison is already too close to her heart... Percy.. Percy I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do." Percy's heart drops. What? "She's... she only got a few minutes..."_

_"Will... there has to be something..."_

_"No.. Percy, I'm sorry." Will leaves, trying to hide his shame. Percy mumbles something. Everything. Anything. He walks back to Annabeth._

_"Percy?" He hears Annabeth say. This makes it so much worse. Her voice. He'd never hear it again after this._

_Percy feels a sob escape his chest. He can't. Not without Annabeth. He feels his face contort from shock and horror to pure fear and sorrow. He breaks down and cries in his hands. Suddenly he feels a hand pulling his own from his face._

_Annabeth looks at him. Shes giving him a weak smile but her face is green with the poison. "I'm not sorry Percy."_

_"What do you mean you're not sorry?! Annabeth, you're going to die!" Percy screams. He was angry. Sad. Confused. Frustrated. He didn't want to lose her._

_"But you're not and that's why I'm not sorry." Annabeth feebly squeezes his hand with whatever strength she has left. "Percy." Her smiles fades. "You can't let Kronos win. You... you need to defeat him. Luke... Luke will help. I know it." Percy looks down. He's still angry at everything._

_"Percy..." Her voice is fading. Percys eyes shoot back to her face. Her life is leaving._

_"NO! Annabeth, please!" He grabs her shoulders and shakes her, trying to bring her back. "Please... don't leave me. I need you..."_

_Suddenly Hypno's voice pierces the dream. "She didn't even know you loved her there. You never got the chance to tell her. Does she know now?"_

Percy knew that for as long as he lived, he'd always be reminded of the death he saw happen there. He shook his head, trying to make the memory go away. The waves weren't helping him for once. He knew the only thing that would help. Standing up, he brushed the sand off his shorts and headed back to the cabin.

He and Annabeth had only just gotten back from that terrible mission early today and they decided to rest for the night in a rental cabin that was located on the beach. The cabin was the perfect size. it was white with its paint chipping off from years of getting hit with the salty breeze. Only one master bedroom, a bathroom, a living room that was connected to the kitchen which overlooked the sound.  
He climbed the stairs leading from the beach to the porch and opened the patio door. He could hear Annabeth taking a shower. As usual, they hadn't had many opportunities to take showers with they were on their mission. Annabeth was probably loving that she could get the crusted mud and demon blood off her skin.

Percy stared at the bathroom door. He started to imagine what she was doing and wondered what she looked like naked. I mean, he'd seen her in a bathing suit but it wasn't the same.

Annabeth's dead body flashed in Percy's mind causing him to shut his eyes shut quickly. He breathed in deeply and wandered to the bedroom. He told Annabeth that he'd take the living room couch but he really needed to hold her, make sure she was real.

Suddenly the bathroom door opened. Percy hadn't noticed that the water shut off. "PERCY!" Annabeth shrieked causing Percy to turn to her quickly. She was holding a towel tight against her otherwise naked body. "What are you doing!?" He ripped his gaze off of her glistening body.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to! I just- I.." Percy couldn't form complete words. How could he? There was a few second of silence.

"It's.. alright Percy. What's wrong? You look... tired." She was still standing in the doorway but in the corner of his eye he could she her shift awkwardly.  
Percy's eyes closed slowly. "I was thinking about-"

"What Hypnos showed you?" she finished. He nodded. "Percy..." She walked towards him and to keep from getting a good punch from Annabeth, he kept his eyes shut. "Percy, I'm fine. See?"

"I don't see actually. My eyes are shut." He could hear her laugh a little.

"Well then open them, seaweed brain." He did cautiously and looked up. She was sitting on a chair across from him, one hand on her towel, one hand on her lap. "You see? I'm here. I'm fine. I didn't die."

"But you could've." He looked down into his hands ashamed. Her hand reached over and placed itself in his. There were a few moments of silence while he tried to get out what was on his mind. "Annabeth. You almost died. No, Annabeth just... hear me out" he said noticing her about to cut in. "You almost died and I didn't get to tell you... I didn't get to.." Annabeth gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Percy, it's alright. I know." She said trying to reassure him.

"No, Annabeth! It's not! I didn't tell you that I loved you or that you were my best friend or any of that!" Percy was now pacing and throwing his hands in the air. "You were going to die thinking I'd be with Rachel or some other girl and you didn't know that nothing could take your place! Annabeth..." He turned to look at her. "You _are _my other half. When I saw you die..." He shut his eyes. "I really didn't know what I was going to do. I would've tried to beg Hades to give you back. Anything. I'd have traded places. I didn't care. I just knew that I wanted to be with you..." Percy opened his eyes and looked at her. Annabeth remained perfectly still but looked stunned.

"Percy..." He was staring at her lips. The way they formed his name, the way they glistened.

He grabbed her shoulders and smashed his lips into hers. He shifted a hand to her hair and moved himself closer. He needed her. He needed proof she was alive and that this wasn't a vision. Maybe she had really died and this was the alternative. No. He needed to know.

She pulled herself back slightly "Percy..." she said worried. He was kissing her below the crook of her jaw. His hands were on her waist. He pulled back to look her in the eyes.

"Annabeth, please." Percy knew how desperate he sounded but he didn't care. He needed to be with her. She studied his face with a worried expression. She looked at nothing for a second and back to his eyes before she nodded slightly. The pressure that was threatening to crush his chest finally lifted and was replaced with a deep fire. It was a slow, warming fire but still, it needed her.

He pulled back and stood up straightly, carefully pulling Annabeth along with him. "Percy... I've... I've never done this before." Percy hadn't done it either and for as many battles as Annabeth's been in, she had her moments of fear. The only person she'd ever show these moments to were Percy and he knew it. This made him love her more. This made him want her more.

He kissed her again, pulling her closer. This kiss was slower, with less desperation but still the same need. His hands pulled her waist against his, fingers feeling the fabric of the towel. Annabeth's hands left the safety of the towel and explored under his shirt. Percy shivered as they felt the ghost of what was once his Achilles heel.

Reaching up, Percy tugged on her towel, letting it fall to her feet. She shivered as he pulled his kiss away. Her tan body was as perfect as he thought it would be. Her slender neck, her beautiful collar bones, her strong yet small shoulders, her chest. Scars littered them all. Her chest was amazing, beyond anything Percy ever pictured in his mind.

"Seaweed brain... you're drooling." He looked at her face. She was blushing but had a slight smile on her face. He smashed his lips into hers, pulling her body into his, the bulge in his pants becoming apparent to both of them. He slowly turned her towards the bed and pushed her carefully down, him on top. Annabeth was pulling his shirt up and off his body, throwing it somewhere out of the way. Annabeth let her hands explore his newly uncovered torso.

Her hands drifted downwards, finally reaching the buttons on his pants. She started to work them off. While she was doing this, he moved back down to kiss her neck. His hands drifted up to her chest and started to message them. This earned a slightly moan from Annabeth, exciting Percy even more. He grabbed her beast with more force.

She had managed to get the button undone and carefully pulled his shorts over his erection and pushed them to the floor. He let his mouth drift lower and lower, kissing her along the way. Finally he reached her breast and sucked gently, allowing his tongue to play with her nipple.

Annabeth groaned more and her hand went into his hair, pushing him into her breast even more. Despite her many scars from previous battles, she was so soft. He removed his hand and let it wander over to her wrist and then up to her shoulder. Suddenly the skin on her shoulder felt rough. Percy pulled back to look at the change in texture. There was a deep scar.

He knew that scar.

Percy felt himself wander back into the memory of a moment that never happened. _She was dead. _He thought.

"Percy? Percy. Look at me." Annabeth pulled his thoughts back to where he was. She was laying naked below him, hair sprawled everywhere on the bed with a hand on his cheek. "I'm fine. Okay?" He nodded though he kept seeing her dead. Annabeth kissed him passionately and rolled them over. Now she was straddling his erection and still kissing him strongly. Her hands fell to his boxers and started to tug them off. When they were off and on the ground, Annabeth looked in his eyes.

"Are you sure, Annabeth?" Percy was starting to get worried. What if they messed it up? He was half expecting her to change her mind and say no. Instead, she nodded. Percy kissed her and rolled them over again, aligning himself at her entrance. A thought occurred to him.

"Wait. Annabeth. Don't we need a.. you know... on my... guy?" He was embarrassed. Why didn't he think of this before? He heard Annabeth chuckle slightly.

"Don't worry Percy. I'm on the pill." She touched his cheek again.

"Oh. Right. Okay..." Percy gulped and kissed her again. He felt her scar again and saw the fake memory. Suddenly desire and need pulsed through him again. He needed her. He needed this. He needed to know she was here. Percy smashed his lips into hers. She responded just as passionately.

Not knowing what to expect, Percy slowly and carefully pushed himself in. She was so tight and wet that it made him shiver. Finally his length was fully in. He looked in her eyes to make sure she was fine. She met his eyes after a moment and the look Percy received made his heart skip. Her grey eyes were dark with desire. She wanted this as badly as he did. He kissed her, breathing her in simultaneously. He moved down to kiss her slender neck again.

"Percy, please..." she managed to strangle out. Her hips bucked slightly causing Percy to groan. He pulled his hips back a little and pushed them back in. The feeling was better than he could have imagined. This was perfect. Everything was perfect. Annabeth groaned.

He started to thrust in and out faster, harder, receiving a groan from Annabeth each time. Her short nails dug into his back. This made him go faster and even harder. The slapping sound of him hitting against her told Percy somewhere in the back of his mind that they were going to be sore in the morning but he didn't care.

"Percy, I... I..." Annabeth started to say. He knew. He was there too. With a few extra thrusts she yelled his name as he grunted and finished inside her.

Percy collapsed next to Annabeth panting. They both layed still, trying to catch their breaths and get their minds around what they just did. Percy opened his eyes and looked at his girlfriend. Annabeth was looking at him with the same fierce look in her eye as she had after a battle. Now he knew why he was always turned on by her after battles and fights.

"Sleep?" He asked.

"Sleep." She responded with a nod.

"Together or... am I still sleeping on the couch?" Percy asked with a lop sided smile on his face.

"Shut up, seaweed brain. Get in." They both rolled over enough to get the blankets over them. He pulled her against his chest and she fit perfectly.

In the morning, they'd find themselves even more entwined.


	2. The Morning After

Percy

Percy only woke up because his arm was stiff and there was some unusual weight on it. He forced his eyes open and looked down at his arm. Oh. Right. Annabeth was sleeping on it. Percy smiled.

Annabeth.

She was laying with her head on his bare chest, arm draped across his stomach. Even while she was asleep she looked perfect. She breathed lazily, her mouth slightly open, her golden hair falling onto the bed. Annabeth looked amazing. Also, she wasn't wearing a single thing. That probably helped.

Percy's smile broadened and he tightened his arm around her, his other hand reaching over to play with her hair. He wasn't even thinking about waking her. He wasn't thinking much of anything other to be honest.

It was rare for Percy to be up before she was. Usually Annabeth had this crazy routine where she woke up at 7 to go for a jog and do some "light reading" (usually involved some schematics to some crazy machines where Percy couldn't even pronounce the titles of). He was okay with it but there weren't many times where he could stare at her without feeling like he'd get caught. Percy could look at her forever.

Forever...

Hypno's had said that to show him his greatest dream, he'd show Percy his greatest fear. Losing Annabeth.

Percy tightened his arm around his girlfriend, protecting her from whatever invisible danger surrounded her. Losing Annabeth would mean losing himself. There wasn't anything or anyone that would be able to put him back together if she... No. It wouldn't happen. He'd have to keep her forever. They'd get a house together like he saw in the Roman Camp. He would ask her to marry him and they'd be together for the rest of their lives.

That was it. That was his greatest dream. Not becoming an all mighty demi-god (though that wouldn't hurt), not becoming the best at whatever... It was to marry and have a family with the girl that called him a seaweed brain and told him without humor that he drooled in his sleep when they first met. It was so simple it made him chuckle slightly.

"What is it?" a voice muttered. Percy looked down to see that Annabeth was waking up. With one eye open, she was glancing at him and smirking.

"Nothing. Just... figured out what Hypnos was trying to tell me." He reached over and caressed her face.

"And what would that be, seaweed brain?" Annabeth asked while slowly and clumsily propping herself on one elbow next to Percy's head. Suddenly Percy wasn't sure he wanted to tell her. He was scared. Maybe she didn't feel the same way? What if it freaked her out and she left him? She wouldn't do that though... right?

"I'll tell you another time." Percy leaned up and kissed her deeply while running his hand over her exposed waist. She responded just as passionately which was a good sign. Maybe he hadn't freaked her out with last night's activities.

Percy leaned back and looked at her. Annabeth's eyes were hooded and the lusty look was back in them. Percy didn't think that he's ever get used to that look. He managed to whisper out her name.

"Yes, Percy?" Annabeth asked.

"Annabeth... about last night... did I..." Percy didn't know how to ask the question he wanted to ask. He dropped his eyes. Her staring at him with that look wasn't helping his brain function. Besides, he was embarrassed. "I mean... I didn't pressure you into.. doing what we did.. last night. Right?"

His question was met with silence. After a few seconds Percy glanced up, hoping Annabeth wasn't angry. Her expression was guarded. That probably wasn't good.  
"Percy Jackson. Do you really think that you forced me to have sex with you?" Percy felt his face heat up and he looked away again. He didn't dare answer but she took that as a yes. "Your head is filled with more seaweed than I thought." She muttered. He glanced up questioningly. "You're an idiot.

"I mean, we never talked about it and suddenly I bring it up and it's not like we had a long discussion beforehand. It just sort of started and-" Percy was rambling.

"Percy. I've had a crush on you since we were twelve. Finally, when we were sixteen, you took a hint and asked me out... sort of. It only took me kissing you twice and Rachel becoming oracle for you to get there but... we got there eventually." She reached over and played with his hair, resting her elbow on his chest. "When Hypnos showed you, you know... what he showed you, I felt happy." She smiled slightly and looked at her hand which was still playing with his hair, slightly embarrassed to be saying these things. "It showed me how much you cared for me. I know you love me. Despite that you've never actually said it, by the way."

"I love you." He said desperately. It didn't even begin to cover how he felt about her. She looked in his eyes and knew he meant it and her smile widened.

"I know that now. Point is Percy, you didn't force me into anything. I didn't think it would happen like it did but... it still did."

"You've thought about it?" Percy grinned widely. He liked where this was going. Annabeth smirked and bumped him with her shoulder.

Annabeth shifted to get up. "Where are you going?" Percy panicked. His hand flew to her hips to keep her from moving any more.

"I'm trying to find my clothes. I guess since I never really got to get dressed last night then they're still in the bathroom."

"Why do you have to get dressed?" Annabeth chuckled in response.

"Because. If we don't get started then nothing's going to get done today."

"So? What's wrong with that?" Annabeth had just escaped the bed and was starting to stretch her arms above her head. "Actually. This... This is fine." Percy spluttered out.

Annabeth realized what she was doing. Stretching her naked body in front of Percy. Her boyfriend. Who she had sex with the night before. Her face turned beat red and she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. She grabbed the first shirt she saw, Percy's shirt, which she threw to the ground the night before. She bent down to get it and heard Percy suck in his breath. Annabeth chuckled to herself a bit. She liked this new found power. Putting on his shirt, she spun to look at him.

His shirt was too big on her but it came to just below her butt. It looked great on her. Then again, everything did. He was staring. He knew he was staring. He wanted more. Would it be too soon to take her right now? If she didn't move herself from the room now then he wasn't responsible for his actions.

"You- we. I." Percy was sounding really intelligent around now. He was still staring. With a shake, he closed his eyes and tried to focus. "I'm going to shower." He went to get up and realized something. Looking sheepishly up at Annabeth, he asked "...can you find my boxers?"

She grinned at him and chucked his boxers straight at his face. "I'm going to see if we have any food left." She walked out of the room, shaking her hair out with her hand. Excess fabric was sitting on the curve of her butt.

"Focus, Percy." He thought to himself. He shook his head again and slowly made his way to the shower. Annabeth's clothes were still there alright, still waiting to be put back on. "Not if I can help it." He thought chuckling. He set them aside so they wouldn't get wet.

Percy stepped into the shower and enjoyed the warm water. While Percy could usually control water, this water wasn't straight from a river or ocean so his power over it was smaller than usual. It was the only time where he could actually get wet.

He thought all these things as he let the water fall over his face. Suddenly he heard a noise and felt something on his back. Percy jumped slightly and looked behind him. Annabeth was shyly stepping in, wearing only a hesitant smile.

"Can I come in? I figure we could save time if we showered together anyway. And save water. Is that-" Percy kissed her hungrily again and pulled her in. Once she was safely in, he pushed her against the wall and kissed her hungrily. She gasped and her body bowed quickly against the wall as if it were on fire. Percy pulled back and looked at her worryingly. She glanced up and gave him a sheepish smile.

"The wall was cold..." Percy laughed and kissed her again, this time running his hands through her hair and down her shoulders. Her lean body seemed to fit perfectly under his skin. His hands fell lower down her body until they landed on her behind where he squeezed it with slow passion.

Annabeth

She thought she could control herself. She really did. A girl who has had that much training and has had to survive by controlling her emotions, not letting them get out of hand, she should've been able to keep away.

But when she went to the kitchen to clear her head, she could only think about amazing the night before was. Annabeth lingered on the way his hands felt exploring her skin, her body. The way every kiss was filled with need, desire and desperation... she was getting excited just thinking about it.

Then the shower began to run and her thoughts brought her back to seeing him naked for the first time. His muscular torso, the way his sea form green eyes turned into the color of the deep ocean, his jet black hair crazy. He looked like he had just won the most important battle of his life. He won, and this was his prize. She was his prize.

Before she knew it she was asking Percy if she could get into the shower with him and they were kissing again. _Sigh_, would she ever get used to this? They couldn't spend _all _of their time doing this, right? She'd be able to look at him without picturing him naked? Without feeling his hands explore her chest?

He grabbed her butt tightly and she couldn't help but moan. Everything he did felt amazing. Percy was still kissing her deeply and she could taste the ocean on his lips. Her hands drifted to his hair. Percy pulled away from their kiss making Annabeth give a little whimper. He looked lustfully into her eyes.

"Would doing it again, right now, be too soon?" She grinned and pulled him back into her kiss.


	3. The New Mission

Annabeth

Eventually they got out of the shower. Somewhere after they both "finished" and took their hands off each other long enough to actually accomplish any washing. Though when Percy went to wash Annabeth's chest things went a little downhill and they got distracted again.

They sat in the kitchen together eating their breakfast (despite it being noon now). It was simultaneously nerve wracking and relaxing. They connected on the deepest physical level any mortals or immortals could achieve. Having that new, deep connection made the two of them on edge. However, they wanted it and they knew it. Annabeth was giddy at just the thought (though she tried not to show it). Even seeing Percy eat his blue eggs was making her happier than it normally should have.

"So." Percy said with a mouth full of eggs, "What do we need to do now?"

"I guess we can start heading back to camp..." Annabeth thought of camp. All the exciting times, all of her friends, all the memories, the place she called home for so many years... for once she almost didn't want to go back. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her friends, it was just that that meant she'd have to give up all of her free time with Percy. All the _alone_time with Percy...

"Don't worry." Annabeth looked up to find Percy giving her that grin that could make her jump him. "We'll find time." His hand covered hers, knowing what she was thinking. Blushing, Annabeth ducked her head and pushed a lock of hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"You know... I wonder what Hypnos would have showed me if we stayed..." Annabeth thought out loud. Percy shuttered and his hand subconsciously tightened around hers.

"Like what happened when we met up with the sirens and you found out what your fatal flaw was." When they were still kids, they sailed to rescue Grover and the Golden Fleece. On that trip, they came across some sirens and Annabeth asked Percy to let her listen. The experience was horrible. She saw her relationship with Luke fixed then. It was weird to think that she ever thought about anyone else while Percy was around.

"Can we never do that again please?" Percy stated. He was smiling but Annabeth could see how serious he was under it all. She smiled back. Whatever she was about to say was lost when an Iris Message arrived in the sink. It was Chiron. Percy let go of Annabeth's hand; no need to clue him in on what they've been up to.

"Percy. Annabeth. How was the mission?" The centaur said, getting straight down to business. Chiron was a mentor. He was strong, brave, and cared about all of the kids at the camp but sometimes he just wanted to get straight to business. Specially if there was more business to get done.

"It was fine. Everything was taken care of. Had a lovely chat with Hypnos. Really, brightened up the whole trip. I wonder why he isn't talked about more often." Percy answered. Chiron ignored the sarcasm.

"Good. Listen, I know you just finished one, but you have another mission. I called in some help since you're probably tired from the mission you just finished. Jason, Piper, and Leo will be joining you." Chiron's face was in full serious mode.

"Oh Gods. What's happened? Is the camp under attack again? I swear, if something else escaped from Tartarus..." Annabeth said getting angry.

"No, no. Nothing like that. However, it appears some new giants have been on the loose. They've been causing havoc and are definitely not the type of giant that can be talked down."

"How many are there?"

"We aren't sure. Come back to camp, restock, and head out. Have a safe trip back." With that, Chiron cut off the message. He must have been worried, usually he never acted so terse.

"Can't have a day off can we..." Percy muttered.

"Not when you're one of the most powerful demigods, I guess." Annabeth slipped her hand back into his and, in her best Percy impersonation, quoted "Don't worry. We'll find time." Her impression was terrible and she knew it; it only sounded like Percy if he had swallowed glass while getting punched in the throat by Clarisse at the same time. It did make Percy laugh though which was good to hear.

_

Being back at camp was nice while simultaneously sad. She felt like she was home but she knew her time of being alone with Percy was over... for now. At the end of this new mission, they'd find time in her apartment (she was renting an apartment while she attended college. Dorms might have been too dangerous for whomever she shared a room with. Besides, she'd have to explain the knives, explosives, posters on how best to defend your camp from invading evil harpies... Nope. No thanks), they'd say they were going to make dinner, maybe actually make it, then one thing would lead to another and he'd strip away her clothes, she'd strip away his, she'd move her hands over his back to feel his smooth skin...

"Annabeth. You listening?" A voice caught her off guard causing her to jump.

"I-What?"

"I guess not. Are you ready to head out?" Piper asked. She was still with Jason Grace which was fine with Annabeth. While she might not have felt 100% about the guy, she was happy that Piper was happy.

"Yes. Wait. Yes. I have my bag. Knife. Percy. Where's Percy?" Annabeth said nervously.

"Here." Percy responded. He tried to look like she didn't know why she was acting strangely but she suspected he knew. They'd have to act normally, watch what they did and said around each other so that no one else would find out. It's not that she was ashamed of what they did, it's just if the other found out then forget it. Every time the two of them would be missing they'd probably gossip about how they were doing it in some part of the woods or underwater.

Underwater. Could that work? Percy could form the air bubble he did when they kissed that first time. He'd be able to keep all of the nosy fish away and it would just be the two of them. Alone. Underwater. The colors of the water reflecting in his eyes...

"JASON." Annabeth said way too loudly, trying to snap herself out of it. She didn't like Jason like that of course which was exactly why it would help to focus on him so she'd stop thinking about more Percy alone time. Gods. Would she ever snap out of it?

"Yes?" Annabeth glanced right next to Piper. How had she not seen him before? He was ready to go in his t-shirt, jeans, boots, and backpack. Tied to the bottom of the bag was his rain jacket. Did he really need a rain jacket? Couldn't he just move the clouds away with his power? He could summon rain so why not?

"Oh. Okay. Good! Let's get going!" She turned to start heading off when someone cut her off.

"Uh. Annabeth?" Damnit. She forgot to include Leo in the roll call.

"Sorry Leo! Just- you know, thinking about the mission. So much to think about. So much to plan..." She tried to brush off their questioning looks. "I'm fine. Really. I'm just tired from the last quest. Haven't even had a day and now I need to go set out on a new one..." She grumbled.

_

After a day of flying on Festus, the group was finally approaching Chicago and Annabeth was finally able to shift her thoughts over to the new mission. They heard rumors about a massive giant threatening to go over to some old buildings and build himself a giant twin using old factory equipment to destroy the city. Annabeth thought it would be best to make sure the city wasn't leveled before they head off to Chicago and stop the new giant.

"So, other than wanting to build a giant robot twin, what do we know about this guy?" Jason asked while approaching the city.

"We can probably assume that the giant is some sort of anti-Hephaestus giant just by the fact that he can build using machine parts." Annabeth answered which was met by a groan from Leo.

"But you know what happens when you assume!" Came Leo's response once he realized that while it might be anti-his dad, it might not be anti-Leo. "You make an ASS out of U and ME!"

"Yes, thank you Mr. Valdez. May we go to recess now or do we have to sit through more stereotypical elementary school teacher phrases?" Piper said jokingly. Well, _half_jokingly.

"Don't make me turn this dragon chariot around." came his response.

"So anyway, any thoughts on how to beat him?" Percy asked while munching on some pizza. Annabeth really wondered where he put all that food...  
"I have a few ideas. If he can build that probably means that he's built some things already. We'll probably have to let Leo take care of whatever he's made."

"Where would you be without me?" Leo smiled his best game-show fake smile.

"Probably in a happier place." Piper joked again. She was good at teasing Leo. They poked fun at each other all the time and neither of them seemed to tire of it. In fact, it seemed like they expected the other to talk like this. It kept the awkward trio of friends, her, Jason, and Leo, less awkward.

"What should we do with Festus while we're on the ground?" Jason asked.

"I built a GPS into Festus so if we need him, I can just push a button and away we go. You know, like Bruce Wayne has with the Batmobile." Leo boasted.

"Right. Everyone, grab your gear from your rooms. We land in 10. Leo, I trust you to find a good place to land." Whatever Leo's response was, Annabeth didn't hear it.

She was too busy thinking about where this giant could be and what the plan was.

Suddenly a distant explosion could be heard. The crew ran to the rails to get a look.

"I guess that's where our new friend is..." Jason said, partially to himself.

"Leo, get in close but not close enough where he can hear us. We'll get out there and scope out the scene then come up with a plan." The team all rushed to their rooms to gather their things. Annabeth knew that they were going to land soon so all of her stuff was packed already.

Turning towards her door, Annabeth still had all of her concentration on the mission. Her friends were counting on her. It was so wonder that with her mind elsewhere she wound up running into someone. This snapped her back to the real world and she looked up. Percy. He was giving her his usual arrogant grin.

"Hey there, wise girl. Time to join us on earth." He joked. It made a smile creep slowly onto her lips.

"What's up, Percy? Did I forget something?"

"You? Forget something? Please. That'll be the day."

"I forgot Leo earlier."

"Yeah, well. You were distracted. Speaking of which..." He glanced around before pushing her gently back into her room and closing the door behind him.

"What is it Percy? Did something happen?"

"No. Just..." He grabbed her hips suddenly and pulled her towards himself quickly and kissed her deeply. The whole thing caught Annabeth off guard earning a noise of surprise from her now occupied lips but she quickly joined in.

She expected it to just be a quick kiss for luck but Percy only deepened it. His hand slipped between her shoulder blades and pulled her closer to him. The room was silent drawing more attention to the kiss. The taste of salt off Percy's lips played on Annabeth's lips. The smell of the sea penetrated deeply into her bones. This would always be home to her.

A knock came from her bedroom door. They quickly pulled apart and readjusted themselves.

"Yes?"

"You guys ready? We're here." Jason was there; his head just popped in through the partially opened door.

"Yeah. We'll be right up." Annabeth responded. When Jason left she glanced at Percy and grinned. "What was that all about?" Percy smiled as he blushed.

"It was meant to be for good luck but I got carried away..."

"I like when you get carried away but for right now, we have a mission."

"Yeah, yeah. I know... Let's get going." His shoulders slumped and they headed towards the deck to join the others.


	4. Hypnos Returns

Annabeth

Once Festus had set them down and left, the team was on their way to the site of the explosion. It wasn't hard to locate since it was still smoking. Apparently the giant, while handy, wasn't very good at these mechanical things unless he was testing something that he meant to explode, then the group was in trouble.

Annabeth led with the team closely behind, Percy closest. She kept an ear out as they ran low to the ground, trying to stay as quietly as possible. The night kept them pretty well guarded from being spotted immediately but who knew what this giant could do. Jason stayed just ahead of Piper while Leo was behind her.

They finally arrived to the explosion site. It was an abandoned factory from the 1940's and showed no sign of use or update since then. Back in the peak of its use, it was probably there to make weapons for the second World War. If machines were left there since, then the giant had a hand on them now probably. Not good.

"Alright. Everyone stick together, keep your heads down, and be as quiet as possible. Let's scope out the area before we attack." Annabeth said. They all knew that that was the plan to begin with. They had all been on enough missions where they knew that charging in would just get them killed but Annabeth felt the need to repeat it.

The group made their way through the factory; Annabeth subconsciously marking the layout of the factory in case they needed to make a quick escape. Slowly they made their way towards the other side of the building. Smoke was still rising from the now destroyed ceiling. Machine parts were scattered around as if inspected and tossed aside. Others had char marks and were obviously involved in the explosion that happened not too long ago. Finally they made their way to the other side of the building.

"Who _is _that?" Annabeth heard Jason say from behind her. Annabeth felt Percy tense behind her.

Sleeping lazily in a giant recliner was Hypnos. His hair was still no better than when they first met up and he looked just as tired as he did last time as if he had gotten no sleep. It was hard to believe that they had seen him just the day before.

Annabeth stood up fully and walked over to the sleeping god for the second time. You'd think an explosion would wake him but apparently he could sleep through anything. It made sense really, he _was, _after all, the god of sleep.

"Hypnos?" Piper asked. Annabeth nodded. She woke the god and again he woke with a start making everyone but Percy and Annabeth jump.

"Eh? Wha-? You again? Didn't I just see you?" Came the drowsy and slightly slurred voice.

"You've met him before?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Yesterday when Percy and I were on our mission." Annabeth glanced at Percy. He was still, his face wavering between worry and anger.

"Oh right. Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Didn't I show you-"

"Yeah. You did." Percy cut off the god of sleep before he could trudge up any more bad memories.

"I see you understood what that meant, Percy. I didn't mean for you two to take it so far but-"

"HYPNOS. Sir... Why exactly are you here? The aftermath of an explosion doesn't seem like a great place to fall asleep." Annabeth asked before the situation could grow more awkward. Hypnos just waved his hand lazily at her as if shooing off an annoying bug that was keeping him from his sleep.

"Everyone wants sleep when they're at their busiest but don't actually have time for it. I guess you're all at your busiest."

"You can say that again." Leo muttered.

"Why would I?"

"I- what? It's just an expression, man."

"Sir, a giant was just here. Did you see where he went?" Annabeth asked. Better to move this along as quickly as possible.

"Yeah, yeah. Next warehouse. Moved on once this one exploded." Hypnos nestled his head into the cushions of his seat and tightened his body up closer as if about to fall asleep.

"Thank you." With that Annabeth thought they were done. The group started to move on to their next location.

"Don't you have another question for me?" Hypnos asked from his sleep like state. Annabeth glanced at Percy. Her eyes met hers but she couldn't tell what he was trying to tell her past "be careful".

"What... what is _my _greatest fear, sir?" Annabeth risked. The air was silent and still. The question hung there, only understood by the god, Annabeth and Percy. Again, the god waved his hand lazily at her.

"That's boring. I already answered that."

"You showed Percy, not me." The god opened one eye slightly in response, as if there was a glaring light in the room that blinded him after hours in the dark holds of sleep.

"Boring. Dreams are meant to be exciting, an experience... How about I switch it up and show you your greatest dream instead?" The gods eyes trapped Annabeth. "This time," Annabeth heard the god add, "let's bring everyone for the ride."

"Please, don't." She managed to whispered. The idea of everyone seeing what she wanted most in life was horrifying, embarrassing. She couldn't let herself be so vulnerable. It was too late. She felt herself being pulled away into the dream.

Percy

He was being pulled into Annabeth's dream; the trip being gentler than his own. He felt bad. Percy knew that Annabeth wouldn't want to leave herself as open as this, her mind for everyone to see. At the same time he was nervous. What if the dream didn't involve him?

The pull of the dream slowed and the images started to solidify. He sensed the others standing with him though he was too nervous to look them. A woman sat with her back to him, her golden hair up in a ponytail. She was working on a laptop designing some giant building. His breathing stopped for a second then he chuckled to himself sadly. Of course this was her dream.

The view spun to reveal the woman sitting in the chair. Annabeth was older, maybe late 20's, very early 30's. She looked stunning even though she still wasn't wearing any make up and wasn't wearing anything fancy or revealing, just a blue button up blouse tucked into her jeans with a brown woven belt at her waist and dark brown boots. It was an outfit her mother would wear; practical and simple.

Her face was tight with concentration, her brow furrowed and her lips tight. Percy tried to be happy. He looked at the building she was designing. It was beautiful. Simple, modern and sleek. Roman influences while still managing to look like it belonged in Time Square. "At least she gets something permanent" Percy thought to himself. No matter how much he tried to be happy for her, he couldn't help but feel absolutely devastated. Their dreams didn't match. A voice broke the tension.

"Mommy!" Future Annabeth snapped out of her concentration and spun around just as a little body ran into her office. A smile exploded onto her face as she caught the child and picked her up to hug her. "We're back!" Percy felt panicked, nauseous, and confused. He didn't know what he felt most.

The child hugged her mom before pulling back. She was probably 3 or 4 by the looks of it. Her straight blond hair was long and shining in the light of the laptop. Her eyes were stunningly blue. Future Annabeth laughed slightly. It sounded beautiful.

"Welcome home! Where's your brother?" Older Annabeth asked with a smile.

"He's with Dad. He got hungry."

"Your brother takes after your Dad more and more. Where do boys _put_all that food?" Annabeth said tickling the little girls stomach before standing, resting the girl on her hip. They walked out of the office after Annabeth closed her laptop using the hand that wasn't holding the child.

The dream followed them as they walked through the hallway that was lit by the midday sun. The smell of the ocean breeze sweeping in giving Percy some small comfort. They emptied out into the kitchen where a child was sitting alone eating a sandwich at the island located in the middle of the kitchen. He didn't look to be much younger than his sister, maybe only a year difference. The boy was too small to reach the floor from his seat causing his feet to swing idly from his perch. His hair was a tousled, thick, jet black mess.

Annabeth set the little girl down in a seat beside her little brother and hugged the boy. "How was the trip, Luke?" Percy's stomach dropped. Luke. She was still thinking about him. All blood that was in Percy's face was gone. He didn't think he could take anymore of this.  
"Good." The boy answered quietly.

"Where's your Dad?" Annabeth asked while reaching into the fridge for a drink.

"Right here!" The voice came from another hallway. He stepped into the light while shaking his hair out with a hand, the other in his pocket.

The man was taller than Annabeth by only a few inches. He was lean and tan, as if he spent most of his time working out in the sun. A grey shirt resting lightly on his torso while swimming trunks hung from his waist. Like the boy, he had tousled, black, messy hair.

With a start Percy realized that he was looking at a vision of his future self. All blood that left his face previously came rushing back a little too fast, he felt light headed for a second. He was the father of the two kids sitting there?

Older Percy walked over to Annabeth as a smile grew on her face. Older Percy had one of his own. When he reached her she suddenly frowned. Her left hand reached up to touch his hair when Percy noticed something shining. A wedding ring sat on her finger. He smiled broadly.

"Your hair is covered in sand!" She scolded.

"I was trying to get it out!" Older Percy defended with a laugh.

"By getting it all over the house? I just cleaned!"

"I'll clean it after lunch! I swear!" He chuckled. His left hand went over to scratch the stubble on the right side of his jaw. Percy saw that his older self was also wearing a wedding band.

"Right. Of course you will." Even though she was still reprimanding him, she was smiling again. Older Percy chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her and Annabeth gave in instantaneously.

"Mom? Can I have a sandwich too?" The little girl asked. The two parents broke from their kiss though Percy kept on hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Yes, of course."

"Can we build with legos after?" Luke asked in his quiet voice.

"Oh boy. Legos with mom. It's amazing that you haven't built a to scale model of the entire city of Rome yet." Percy joked.

"We're starting small. First, the coliseum." Annabeth stated defensively.

"Oh. Yes, of course. _Small._Did I mention they're getting even better at controlling the water?"

The vision started to fade back and for the first time, Percy was sad to leave something that Hypnos was showing them. He wanted to stay watching his future self and family. At the same time, he really wanted to make that dream a reality. Big time.

He was back in the present and so was everyone else except Hypnos; he had seemed to have finished what he came here to do. Percy looked up at Annabeth. She wasn't looking at anyone. She looked horrified and had a deep set blush on her face. Despite her obvious embarrassment, Percy couldn't help but smile so broadly that he thought it was never going to leave him.

"So..." Leo said awkwardly. The sound of his voice cut the air painfully. Percy looked at the group. Leo was more awkward than usual, Jason looked severely uncomfortable and Piper looked extremely sympathetic to her friend like she knew how horrifying that was for Annabeth. The reminder of other people made Annabeth blush even harder if that was possible.

"Let's just get a move on." Annabeth mumbled in a rushed tone. She marched over to the other side of the building to the other exit.


	5. The First of the New Giants

Annabeth

"Alright. Leo, you're up with me." Annabeth whispered once they were all pushed against the outside wall of the next warehouse building. According to Hypnos, the giant was in this one. Percy made a face but Annabeth ignored it either because of the dim light or just that she expected it. "Leo and I will go in first since we know the most about the machines in there. We can scope it out and see what he's up to. Percy, Piper, and Jason: You guys stay by the door and keep a look out. Either he's in there and making things, or he's out and might come back soon. We'll be back."

Before Percy could object, Annabeth ducked into the factory with Leo. The place was huge. Tall red brick walls stood a few stories up undisturbed before hitting the metal rafters of the ceiling. Dingy windows lined the far side of the factory but were too covered in years of dust, dirt, vines and pollution to actually be looked through. Tall, old machines stood lifeless throughout the building.

Annabeth moved softly but quickly through the building, Leo in tow before stopping behind a machine somewhere of the middle of the building. Light could be seen flickering on the other end of the building accompanied with the gentle clicks of mechanical pieces being put together. Leo and Annabeth glanced at each other nervously and moved on, quieter and staying lower to the ground but with the same haste.

Once they were closer, the two friend risked a glance at the source of the noise. There, sitting on the ground and facing the other direction, a giant tinkered away at a tiny piece of machinery that was being blocked by the giants back. A trashcan fire was lit just to the giants right, highlighting every hideous detail of the giants skin. If the giant stood, Annabeth guessed, he'd be roughly 20 feet tall. In the back of her mind, Annabeth wondered how the giant got into the warehouse without ripping off the roof even with the giant garage door. Leo and Annabeth went back a few yards before risking any kind of talking.

"See anything?" Annabeth asked quietly.

"You mean, other than the giant and the gigantic machines used to make warheads? No. I thought I saw something shimmer in the shadows but the fire made it hard to see well in that corner."

"Alright, let's go tell the others. We'll need their-" Suddenly a roar ripped through the building, threatening to break the glass windows.

"Oh hooray. Demi-gods have arrived." Annabeth and Leo whipped their heads around to see that the giant was now standing by his fire pit. He had lost the piece of machinery that he was playing with and was sniffing the air. "Oo... Is that.. Is that _Hephaestus_ blood I smell?"

"Leo! Go get the others if they're not already in here!" Annabeth yelled while drawing her knife. Leo ran as hard as he could to the other side until the shadows kept him from her sight.

Annabeth ran to the side of the factory trying to keep the giants attention while the others arrived. She heard the giant stomp his way towards her when suddenly she heard the grind of machinery being ripped from their bolts. Dodging forwards and rolling into a run, she narrowly avoided getting crushed by a thrown machine.

"Annabeth!" She heard Percy scream from the far side of the factory.

"I'm fine!" She yelled in response.

"Reinforcements? I guess to make this fair then I'll call my _own_ reinforcements then!" The giant yelled. A single beep of a car lock pierced the silent air and suddenly machines started grinning, violently assaulting the air with his noises.

A giant had appeared from the shadows. No, not a giant... A mechanical giant? It was an extremely tall creature made of gears and machine parts.

"Oh great! It was making a brother!" Leo yelled.

"Get on that thing Leo! We'll take the first one!" Jason yelled from somewhere in the shadows.

"You say that like it's easy! I don't even know how to get close to it!"

"You have the best shot at it so go!"

Annabeth heard Jason and Percy charge the giant when she decided to take the side aisles to get behind it. While the boys took it head on and Piper tried talking it down, Annabeth figured she'd try and get a different angle.

The boys weren't doing well by the time she got back there and Leo was nowhere to be seen but then again, neither was the mechanical giant. Piper was still trying her charmspeak but from a greater distance this time. With one swipe, the giant knocked Percy and Jason back through the air and somewhere into the shadows. Panic flooded Annabeth's stomach but she fought it down. She had to get to the giant.

Climbing up on some equipment behind the giant, Annabeth got ready to move onto his neck allowing her to have access to his eyes. She leapt onto the giant and he roared in protest. Her knife dug into his neck as she tried to simply gain a good hold onto the creature, his skin unexpectedly slick as if she were trying to run up a child's playground slide.

The giant shook his body, swinging Annabeth from side to side, threatening to throw her through the air. She couldn't take it anymore. Her grip failed. She flew through the air only to be caught by the giants enormous fist.

"Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena. You should supposedly know everything..." The giant said. His breath smelled of sulfur and ash. His skin smelled of gasoline and leather seats and shone like oil in the sun, turning from black to purple to suddenly a rainbow of colors. He brought his hand up to his face so he could get a closer look. His eyes moved and adjusted like the shutter on a camera, quick and darting, adjusting to whatever he was looking at. Suddenly it smiled.

"What you do _not_ know is that each of us were born with a purpose." With each word, smoke billowed out of his mouth. "All of us were born to seek revenge but each of us has a specific purpose."

"Yeah? And what are you meant to do?" She struggled against his grip. Maybe if she distracted it for long enough, the others would be recovered and able to attack again.

"Build weapons for my brothers obviously. You should have figured that one out, oh great child of wisdom. My two brothers were born for other purposes however."

"What do they do then?" The giants smile grew into a devilish grin. He leaned in closer so only she could hear.

"Well, since you're about to be squeezed to death anyway I might as well say. As I told you, we were built for revenge. As I can recall, a certain one of your more powerful Greek demigods has made many enemies. He's defeated plenty of us 'foes to the gods'." Annabeth's heart rate quickened.

"It would make sense that many would want him dead. With their combined efforts, my brother was born. Born to be the perfect weakness of this... sea born demigod." Annabeth stopped breathing. She heard a deep chuckle rise from the chest of the giant threatening to crush her.

"My brother was built to kill the one you love most, Annabeth Chase. He was born and bred to kill Percy Jackson." A small cry escaped Annabeth's throat.

"Where... where is this brother?" She strangled out.

"You'll have to kill me to find out. And you're not going to leave here alive."

"Annabeth! I got it!" Annabeth's head spun to look towards Leo's voice. He was riding the mechanical giant. Leon swung the mechanical beasts arm into his creators stomach, releasing Annabeth in the wake. She was thrown through the air and when she was caught by a gust of wind. Jason and Percy were up and attacking the giant again, Jason saving her from smashing her body against the machines.

She charged the giant, knife in hand. The giant had to die. She had to know where his brother was and quickly. Jason, Leo and Percy were attacking with as much energy and urgency as they could muster but it paled in comparison to Annabeth's desperation. In a few strong leaps, she climbed a nearby machine and threw herself at the giant's head, knife rising into the air. There were so many people attacking from so many angles that the giant failed to see her coming. The knife entered his eye releasing a horrific noise of shredding metal despite that his eye was not mechanical. He fell to the ground screaming, Annabeth still holding onto her knife that was logged in the enemy.

As the monster fell to ash, Annabeth heard a whisper in her head along with an image. The vision showed a cliff overseeing the ocean. It looked similar to the northern coast of Washington state. There stood a giant; it's skin flicking with electricity every time it moved. The giant appeared to be a cyclops, it's one eye rolling down slowly to look at a giant empty fish tank. It's smile was horrifying and bright, like a news reader that just had his teeth whitened far too drastically.

"Annabeth? You alright?" She felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she found Percy looking at her with a worried expression. Annabeth turned and touched his cheek. She couldn't lose him. He was the only person that could really make her feel like home. Annabeth never felt like she really had a family; everyone she met either left her, died, or didn't accept her. Percy accepted her, loved her, and wanted to keep her safe. Even after seeing into the deepest depth of her mind, he stayed with her.

"I'm fine. How about you?" He grinned and nodded. "How about the others?"

"Jason and I are good." Piper said coming out of the shadows with Jason.

"That was AMAZING. I mean, _look at this guy!"_ Leo appeared to be more than fine and riding the now docile machine giant.

"He won't fit on the boat, Leo."

"Oh, come on! Can I take some of him?" Leo pleaded. Annabeth thought a moment.

"Fine. If you're sure he won't attack us and if you can get it done quickly. In the mean time, call Festus. The rest of us are going back onto the ship to rest before we go to the next giant." Leo exploded with energy. He jammed his fist into his pocket and pulled out the button to call Festus. Once it was hit, he got to work on the giant who seemed to be talking to him in beeps and screeches.


	6. The Plan

Annabeth was back in her room, alone. She needed time to think. When they got to the ship, she immediately went into planning mode and only knew where Jason and Piper were because they checked in. They had gone to bed and Leo was probably still working on his new friend. She didn't know where Percy had gone.

A cyclops born specifically to destroy Percy. What would his strengths be then? From what Annabeth saw he was electrically charged in some way. Also, by the giants feet was a tank most likely meant to imprison Percy when they met. They could never meet. She had to make sure that would never happen.

The vision that Hypnos showed her stuck in the front of her mind. It was everything she wanted. Working as an architect, a great house a family that included children and Percy. That vision of Percy... her heart skipped a beat just thinking about it. He looked so... mature and sexy. They seemed like the ideal parents in the vision, a perfect family. It was something that demigods never really got to experience. They were always alone or shunned. This seemed to be showing her that it didn't have to be that way. It didn't have to be that way as long as Annabeth could keep Percy safe from the new giant. Suddenly a knock was at her door.

"Annabeth?" She heard. Percy's head slowly popped in as if worried that she were angry.

"Yes, Percy?" She tried to push the giant out of her mind and managed a tired smile, earning her one in return from Percy.

"Do you have time to talk?"

"I always have time for you." With that invitation he entered her room, quietly closing the door behind him. Percy walked over and sat at the edge of her bed.

"You're hiding."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Annabeth. I know you. To let anyone into your head and show other people that side of you?" He smiled but not mockingly.

"Augh." She stood up and walked over to her bed, falling onto it dramatically with a groan. Percy laid a hand on her back and rubbed soothingly.

"It's not a big deal, you know. You shouldn't be embarrassed. It's not like he showed them a vision of us actually _making_the children." Annabeth turned quickly around, horrified, and playfully punched Percy in the shoulder.

"_Percy!"  
_  
"What?" He said laughing, leaning away slightly. Annabeth gave herself a few seconds to calm down before answering.

"It's just... I try to keep that side of me from other people. They could use it against me. I'm not used to sharing my emotions with people..." Percy sat straight again and moved some of her hair out of her face, a smile still plastered on his face.

"I know. Just remember, I'm here if there's anything you want to talk about." Annabeth looked into his eyes and found them filled with sincerity. There was little light in Annabeth's room currently, just the one lamp lit dimply on her desk and the moonlight. One side of Percy's face was lit dimly blue while the other side was lit with a faint orange. He looked mysterious and sexy, his hair swept to the side.

Annabeth sat up slowly, not breaking her eye contact with Percy. She rolled over her knee so that she was now straddling him. Her hands moved up to play with the hair on the back of his head, her lips parted slightly. His hands moved behind her, slowly rising below her shirt. Feeling his bare hands on her skin made her feelings even more intense.

When they had made love for the first time, Percy felt the need to prove that she was still there. His movements were demanding, strong, needy. Now he moved slowly, attempting to take in his feelings for his girlfriend. His eyes still hadn't left hers. Golden hair fell on both shoulders, her large shirt falling over one shoulder, the moonlight turning her grey eyes silver. With a sudden revelation he realized just how in love with her he was. It made his heartbeat skip a beat and speed up to a pace of a marathon runner's. He was so in love that the phrase felt meaningless. There was no word, phrase, or even gesture that could summarize how passionately he felt about her.

What Percy was feeling was exactly how Annabeth was feeling at the same time. However, with the realization of how strongly she felt, she also felt the knowledge of that new giant looming over everything. His presence felt like a taunt to her now, now that they had figured out how deeply they felt and needed each other. The thought of him darkened Annabeth's heart. She would never let him live long enough to let him get to Percy.

She leaned in slowly, finally breaking eye contact when she was an inch from his lips. At first, she kissed him slowly but deeply, his lips dancing with her own. Hands traveled up her back bringing her closer to him. Breathing deeply, her hands tightened in his hair.

This felt different than the last time; it being driven strongly by desire, need, awkwardness, and a feeling of excitement as they explored previously unexplored areas of each other. This felt deeper somehow. The same need was there but it was almost as if they were trying to learn everything about the other by touch and sight alone or as if they were trying to be completely consumed by the other ones presence.

Percy moved his hands even higher while breaking off their kiss slowly, removing her shirt. He glanced down, taking in the sight of her all in before kissing her passionately and breathing deeply. Keeping his eyes closed, he moved his head back so their faces were only just touching.

"I love you." He said with a serious expression, his breath smelling of the ocean and cooling her skin as it brushed against her. She didn't smile, she just looked at him intensely, her eyes half open. The slow, deep burning fire in her chest wouldn't allow for something as silly as a smile. This was much too powerful for that. She kissed him slowly and pushed him down gently onto her bed while removing his shirt.

Her hands explored his exposed torso while her lips danced with his. Strong hands moved sideways to her ribs, holding her tightly before moving up to remove her bra. Completely naked from the waist up now, Annabeth still felt a little nervous. He had already seen her body but what if he liked it because he was lost in the moment? What if he had changed his mind? Besides, being naked in front of someone was a feeling she wasn't quite used to yet. In fact, she had only been this exposed once before and it was with the boy laying there now.

The nervousness was gone when he groaned and moved his lips to her chest. The bulge in his pants seemed to be threatening to burst the seams of his jeans. Taking this as a sign, Annabeth moved her hips into the air just enough that she could unbutton his pants. The second she did, he rolled them over so that he was on top, knees on either side of her. Still, his lips stayed on her chest even as she pushed his pants down with her hands, then with her feet. His erection formed a tent under his boxers and for some reason, the sight of it really excited Annabeth. Percy's lips now sucked the top of her breast, leaving her with a deep mark that would stay for days if not a week or two. She placed her hands on either side of his face and returned her lips to his, to their rightful place. They rolled again, Annabeth on top once more.

Percy's hands moved down to her pants slowly giving her time to stop him if she wanted. She didn't stop him. He unbuttoned her pants and moved them carefully over her rear and down her sleek legs. His hands trailed up her legs until they met the soft yet firm mound of her butt where he squeezed. Their kiss deepened. His hands glided up a few inches again, only to stop once all of his fingers passed the top of her underwear. Slowly, again giving her time to tell him to stop, his hands removed the fabric from her hips.

Sitting back so that she was a few inches in the air above his waist, she broke their kiss and moved her own hands to his boxers and removed them. Without breaking eye contact, she grabbed his length earning a shutter from Percy, his eyes closing, head falling deeper back into the bed. His length was amazingly hard and warm, pulsing with the excitement he was undoubtedly feeling. Curious, she squeezed slightly which caused Percy to moan louder. The volume of his moan made her worry that the others might hear so she kissed him quickly, trying to smother the noise. He kissed her clumsily, clearing thinking about the feeling of her hand.

She parted from the kiss and hovered her face just a few inches from his own, waiting for him to open his eyes. When he finally managed it, she asked him the question with just a look and he answered with a nod. Annabeth sat up and slowly lowered herself onto his length. It took all her will power and focus not to moan loudly. Unfortunately, Percy did not have the same control. His own noise threatening to surface before Annabeth bent towards him, placed a single finger on his lips and whispered a calm "shh" into his ear. He nodded slightly and she moved her hips finally. Percy's hands grabbed her hips tightly, encouraging her to move faster. She complied.

The feeling was everything. It consumed her. She loved this boy, this man. She threw her head back, her hands moving behind her to grab his thighs and she moved against him, with him, enjoying everything about the moment.

"Annabeth..." she heard him mutter. That turned her on even more, he was more than enjoying the moment. She knew he was close to finishing.  
Soon enough, he did and shuttered, for a second becoming perfectly still, his hands forcing her to remain as still as possible as well. She looked down at him since she was still straddling him. His hair clung to his face from sweat, his cheeks red from the excitement, his breathing erratic and his heart beating to hard it was causing his whole chest to pulse. No one would ever be so sexy, so perfect, as Percy Jackson to her.

Finally he opened an eye to look at her. She probably looked a wreck since she was also covered in sweat from the effort. His arms weakly lifted his hands up into the air, the effort looking as if it was costing him all of his remaining energy. He motioned for her to lay down on his chest. She leaned in, his arms wrapping around her shoulders, and kissed him deeply before placing her head on his chest. She heard his heart pumping loudly in his chest. It was comforting.

But for some reason, she couldn't fully enjoy the moment. She knew what it was. The threat of the giant.

The man in her bed would never meet the giant. Not if she had anything to do with it.

She heard Percy snore softly and she knew he was gone for the night.

Percy

Percy woke up and immediately smelled the scent of his girlfriend in the air. He remembered where he was and what he had done the night before. A smile broke onto his face as he rolled over to engulf her in his arms.

His arms met nothing but bed sheets.

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes to find the bed empty. He pushed himself up on his elbow and took a quick look around the room. No one.

He did, however, spot a note on Annabeth's desk. With a groan he got out of the bed, wrapping the loose bed sheet around his waist. It reminded him of when he wore the toga at the Roman camp just without the torso bit. He sat in her desk chair and opened the note. It read, in Annabeth's writing:

Seaweed Brain,  
There was something I had to take care of. I will be back  
soon. Keep moving the ship, maybe ask Chiron where he  
thinks the next giant is. I'll find you. Just remember,  
I love you.  
Annabeth

"Something to take care of"? Without him? Percy thought the rest of the crew might know what she meant so he gathered up his clothes and, after putting them all on, headed for the deck.


	7. The Cliff

Percy

Percy arrived on the deck of the ship to find his friends already there. It wasn't all that surprising really since he tended to sleep in the most. Jason always woke up to warm up for the day, Leo seemed too ADD to even sleep sometimes, and Piper just woke up because she seemed to like the peace and quiet of the mornings before everyone was up. Piper was a little bit of a mystery to Percy. She didn't talk about herself much and usually stuck with Jason and Leo. Somehow the child of Aphrodite got along perfectly with Annabeth though so Percy just assumed he was missing something (she was definitely nice and cool to be with but she and Percy just always stayed slightly awkward friends and acted more as "friend of a friend"). If anyone had an idea of where she went, it would be her.

The group was talking by the rail on the far side of Festus's deck. They didn't seem to be talking about anything important since Piper and Jason were laughing and Leo was gesturing wildly with his hands, as if telling a story. When Percy came closer, Jason glanced at Percy, giving him and nod while still laughing.

"Hey Percy. Annabeth still asleep?" Jason asked.

"That'd be weird. She's usually up for a few hours by now." Piper added.

"Actually... I have no idea where she is and I was hoping you would know but it seems you don't. Here, take a look at this." He handed the note to Piper and the rest of the group read silently with her.

"'Something to take care of'?" Jason asked when they had finished reading.

"She didn't say anything to you?"

Piper simply shoot her head worriedly while Leo shrugged. "Nah. She usually just talks tech with me since we're the only two that understand any of it."

"Maybe she told Chiron?" Suggested Jason.

"Worth a shot. We could ask him if he knows the location of the other giant anyway." Percy said. He walked over to a fountain they kept towards the back of the ship. They kept a small one for calls back to camp in case of emergencies or mission updates. After a small offering, Chiron appeared.

"Hello Percy, everyone. How is the mission going?"

"Good. One giant down so far." said Jason.

"Would you know where another one of the giants is, Chiron?"

"Hm... We've been hearing disturbances all over the place but no one's really sure if it's giant related. There's been a few things back here in New York actually."

"Where?"

"Upstate-ish. About an hour up from Manhattan?"

"That's upstate?" Jason asked. Chiron shrugged.

"For Manhattan and Long Islanders it is. Anything past the city is generally upstate."

"Chiron... have you heard from Annabeth recently?" Percy asked with a vague attempt to not sound too worried.

"Not since you left. Why?"

"Nothing... It's just that she seems to have gone on an errand without bringing any of us..." Chrion's expression twitched with worry.

"Did she say anything?"

"She just left a note and told us to keep going." Chiron thought for a second before responding.

"I'm sure it's fine, Percy. She's a smart girl, she knows what she's doing out there." Percy nodded reluctantly. Chiron gave his best wishes and signed off as a student required his attention. The group stood in place for a few second while deciding what to do next.

"Well, she said keep going. Should we get going?" Leo asked. While Leo looked his usual energetic self and Jason looked as focused on the goal as ever, Piper still looked worried.

"Yeah. Back to New York? If there's a risk of New York being under attack then we should go investigate it before something happens. That or we could stop at Camp Jupiter since it's nearby if we need a rest."  
Suggested Jason. Leo nodded and went back to his steering rig to locate their next destination. "Chiron is right, Percy. Annabeth is smart. She wouldn't go off on her own if she thought she couldn't handle it." Percy just nodded absently and watched Jason go off to go exercise before glancing over at Piper. She was staring nervously at him.

"...You don't buy it either do you?" It was less of a question and more of a statement from Piper.

"No. She's never gone off alone before." Piper came closer to Percy so as to not be overheard.

"She told me about how she'd adventure alone as a kid but Percy... she hated that."

"She did it once after my first summer at Half-Blood but that was because she ran away from home again."

"Why would she go off alone?"

"Percy!" A yell came from behind him. It was Chiron calling from the fountain. "Do you have Blackjack?"

"No, why?"

"We can't find him. I'll go look around camp some more. If you see him, let me know."

"Will do." With that, Chiron logged off. Great. His girlfriend and his horse missing in the same day.  
His girlfriend and his horse. Both suddenly missing.

Percy and Piper seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Annabeth had Blackjack.

"But why?" Piper asked. Percy shook his head franticly. Why would she take his horse? "I'm going to look in her room. Maybe I'll find something." With that, Piper left.

Percy paced the deck of the ship. Annabeth took Blackjack so that meant she was either going someplace far or wanted to get there fast. Piper arrived empty handed looking more frazzled then before.

"Guys, I might have something that can help." Leo said suddenly.

"What is it?" Asked Jason.

"I started working on a new tracking system before we left on the mission. I haven't finished it yet but... it's kind of like a floating eye." Leo was already shoveling through his unending pouch. "We can see her with it no matter where she is. She won't know it's there because of the cloaking device and we can't talk to her with it yet since I didn't have the time to add a speaker but..."

"Bring it up, Leo." With that, Leo reached into his pocket and drew out a baseball sized metal ball before lobbing it into the air where it fell for a few feet before whizzing away at a speed where it was hardly able to be seen. As it left their view, he lead the group to his room where, amongst the mess of mechanical parts and tools, a fairly large projection screen hung from his wall.

"The eye should be able to reach her pretty quickly."

"Can you figure out where she is with it?" Piper added a little too quickly to be calm. To everyone's disappointment, he shook his head while punching in seemingly random buttons into his tablet furiously.

"No. That was going to be the next thing that I was going to install... Oh. He's found her already. Told you he was fast." Leo boasted. When no one congratulated him, Leo cleared his throat and hurriedly pulled up the picture on the screen.

Annabeth was riding Blackjack at speeds Percy didn't even know the Pegasus could accomplish. She was wearing all of her battle armor and had her knife strapped to her side. The silver owl helmet she wore against Kronos sat on her head, sitting low enough to partially guard her eyes from the wind whipping past her face. Her knife was sitting firmly on her hip and her chest plate dulled with the cool air of the morning. While her lips were sitting tightly on her face and determination showed in every aspect of her body, she still looked tired under it all. Only Percy could see that tiredness, he knew.

"What is she doing?" Leo asked.

"Riding in to battle..." Percy said. Even coming out of his mouth it didn't make sense. Why would she go into battle without him? Without even _telling_ him?

"Without us?"

"I don't know..." Percy was staring at the screen with such intensity as if the harder he stared the fast answers would become clear. None did.

"Why would she go into battle without telling one of us?" Asked Jason as he stared to scratch his chin.

"To protect someone." Piper answered distantly as if thinking. As Percy began to ask who, Annabeth suddenly slowed Blackjack.

"Set us over behind that rock, Blackjack. Quietly." Annabeth said leaning into his ear. As he did what he was told, Annabeth dismounted, landing weakly on her feet, then made for the boulders edge and crouched.

Not too far away, a giant sat laughing to himself as he sat near the edge of a cliff and playing with something. As with the first, this giant had his back turned but Percy seemed to see him glittering. Not glittering... sparking? The giant was flickering with electricity. A dark forest surrounded him on either side but from Annabeth's higher cliff, she had a perfect vantage point. She turned back to Blackjack who had collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.

"Blackjack." Annabeth whispered. Her face was set, lips tight, face filled with determination. "I'm sorry to have made you go so quickly. I know it must have been tiring." She put out a hand to pet the pegasus' snout. "But I need you to do something for me. This guy was born to _kill_ Percy. Literally. That's why he was born. I need to fight him or else Percy will lose this fight _and_ his life. What I need you to do is to find a safe spot far away from here and stay there for at least 3 hours then come back here. When I'm done, we'll give you some rest and we'll go back to the ship. Alright?"

_"No! Not alright! Have you looked at that guy?! He's huge!" _Blackjack said in vain. Only Percy could understand him. Annabeth seemed to have understood the gist of it however and gave an encouraging smile.  
This was happening too fast for Percy. She went by herself to fight the cyclops? Why was it bred to kill him and just him?

"Why didn't.. why didn't she just tell me?" Percy asked quietly to no one. No one offered an answer.

"I'll be fine, Blackjack. Really. He was born to kill Percy, not me. Besides, I've never lost, have I?"

_ "...No... I guess not..." _Blackjack answered. Annabeth returned her hand to her side.

"Go, Blackjack. I'll see you in 3 hours." With that, Blackjack reluctantly and weakly left the girl's side as she stared after him. When he was lost in the distance, Annabeth lifted her hand slightly to lay it on the hilt of her knife. Her face lost its fierce determination and confidence and was replaced by a deep feeling of tiredness and sorrow. Every inch of her face was drowning in the greatest weariness Percy had ever seen. Her eyes lost focus as she looked towards the ground, her mind elsewhere. Her mouth opened slightly.  
"Sorry, Percy." She whispered into the air, a cloud escaping as she spoke.

A distant rumble began that was so deep the crew thought they were under attack and only after a second or two, realized it was the cyclops. It felt like a rumble from the deepest reaches of the ocean and, oddly enough, Percy felt both at home and very much afraid. The deepest part of the ocean was dangerous for anyone, even the son of a sea god.

"I smell him..." the cyclop's voice was deep and rumbling, like if a whale could speak. "I smell Perseus JACKSON." Annabeth was crouching, ready to dive away. Her knife was already in her hand and her head was peeking out from behind the rock just enough so she could see with one of her eyes.

The cyclops sniffed the air again before speaking slowly. "No... not the son of a sea god. Another demi-god? Mmm... the _lover_ of Perseus? One who bonded in the deepest way mortals can... Probably why I can smell him so strongly... How cute." Annabeth's face contorted in horror.

"What is he talking about, Percy?" Jason asked. Percy didn't respond. He couldn't take his eyes away from the screen.

"Percy... his hand..." Piper gasped out.

Percy looked at what the cyclops was playing with before and now sat limp from his fist; the mutilated corpse of what was once a sea creature. It was so battered and torn it was beyond recognition yet still twitched from the shocks rolling off the monster. Percy felt like he was going to be sick. If he did that to whatever that poor creature was, he didn't want to imagine what it could do to him, what it might do to Annabeth.

Annabeth was back in control of her expression and was back into battle mode. She pulled her helmet lower on her head and tightened her grip on her knife. With her feet planted firmly on the ground, she looked ready for anything.

With sudden strength, the cyclops threw the mutilated carcass of the former sea creature at her. She had time, however, and dove out of the way and was already in a run. She ran for the trees that slopped its way towards the giant. He closed the distance in 3 easy strides and threw his hand into the woods. In the wake of his strides, desert sand was left. 3 large puddles of sand grew to fit the shape of the enemy's foot shape, killing all grass and life. Annabeth dodged and spun, slicing at the giant hand that was destroying several trees. It made contact and blood spilled from the gash. The cyclops roared in pain and, with anger building, punched blindly into the trees again.

"Want to know how I was going to defeat your beloved Percy?" The cyclops yelled. Annabeth was still moving into a better position, heading towards the cliff that towered over the dark ocean below. Percy had never seen an ocean look so violent. The water seemed as black as the sky only to be cut up by sharp white blades that were the tops of waves that grew and disappeared, only to be replaced by dozens more just like it. Rocks stood defiantly against the water and appeared like tombstones in the worlds loneliest graveyard.

"Percy! Where are you?! Help!" Percy stopped what minimal breathing he was doing. Annabeth had stopped too. Horror and shock fought for first place on her face. The voice was from the monster yet it was Annabeth's exact voice.

The cyclops laughed. "He would have come. He would have come and been trying his best not to kill me. Know why? 'Brother! It's Tyson! Why you hurt me?'" The cyclops laughed horribly as he stopped speaking in Percy's only brother's voice. Percy's whole body was shaking; not that he noticed, but the other's did faintly.  
Suddenly the creature's hand shot into the woods and grabbed Annabeth around the torso. Her arms were free to try and pry herself out of his grip.

"Besides! It's not like he can touch me. Water doesn't go well with electricity!" With a tight squeeze, the monster sent large arcing bolts to his fist. Annabeth screamed and convulsed, unable to control her muscles. "SHOCKING isn't it?! Oh, I've been saving that one!" The electricity stopped and Annabeth collapsed against the fist.

Tears were rolling down Percy's face but did not cry. He wanted to do something. Anything. He didn't know where she was. He was close to lunging at the screen but his brain felt disconnected from his body.

"LEO! WHERE IS SHE?!" Percy spat desperately at the boy.

"I don't know! I'm trying to find out!" Leo was already fiercely punching in buttons and commands at inhuman speeds.

"DO SOMETHING!" Piper yelled. Tears fell from her face too. Her hands tightly balled up into fists.

"I'M TRYING!"

Annabeth stirred. With a burst of energy, she shoved her knife as deeply into the giants fist as she could. As he dropped her hard on the ground, she ran clumsily into the woods again. Strategically, she was using the darkness of the woods to hide her. It wouldn't work for long but it would buy her time to recover.

"I was going to put your stupid boyfriend in my special tank and watch him drown! Enchanted water so he couldn't breathe! Drowned by his own arrogance! If that didn't work I could've worn him down with electricity or drowned him in my sand! Killing you will make everything even better! He'll be so distraught, he won't even want to fight me!" The cyclops was now sweeping his arms left and right, clearing tree after tree.

Annabeth suddenly emerged from the woods and slashed the back of his left knee back him buckle. The cut was deep enough where he wouldn't be able to use that leg at all and was forced to one knee near the edge of the cliff. Moving swiftly in, Annabeth leapt around the monsters throat and slashed. It was a fatal blow.

However, the monster still roared. A few yards in front of the writhing, kneeling cyclops, Annabeth stood panting and carefully watching. With a hardening expression, she tightened to charge, knife firmly in hand. Percy knew her plan. He knew it and yet with every molecule in his body, he simultaneously rejected what was about to happen while asking, pleading, begging the gods to not let it happen.

She leapt into the air, her knife finding its way into the giants eye. The force of her body forced the cyclops back. Back farther still. The monster was holding his eye. The knife was being held in and wouldn't come free. Neither could Annabeth's hand. Her eyes closed. She didn't scream, nor did she cry out.

Perhaps Percy could have heard his own screaming if he could hear it over the turmoil that raged inside him. With the fall of Annabeth, came the fall of all Percy. His life was crumbling.

They fell out of sight; girl and monster together into the violent dark ocean with only death to greet them.


	8. The News

Piper

Piper watched as her best friend fell from the cliff. Annabeth. Dead. Lost in the dark expanse of the ocean. She would never be able to look at the ocean again without thinking of the friend who sacrificed herself for another. Her friend would never lead any kind of training exercise at camp, would never lead the brainy but generally kind Athena cabin, would never steal Piper's food jokingly again.

She couldn't look at the screen anymore. Ripping her eyes from the screen, she turned her gaze to the room. She saw the people there but at first the scene didn't make sense. Two men were holding another. That couldn't be right. No, wait. Jason and Leo were holding Percy up. Percy. Piper knew that no matter how terrible she felt about losing her best friend, Percy must have felt so much worse. The thought was heart breaking.

Jason and Leo were dragging Percy from the room and bringing him, as gently as they could, up the stairs to the deck. Piper followed, determined to not be alone in the room where she saw her best friend die. The morning air had a crisp feel to it that seemed to make their skin feel as cold as their hearts and minds. The sky's brightness seemed to mock them.

Percy sat there, where Jason and Leo placed him, just looking at nothing. Tears fell from his eyes but he didn't seem to notice. After a few moments of leaving him alone, Jason went to him.

"Percy...I - I am so sorry." Understandably, Jason seemed to be at a loss for words. Leo shuffled awkwardly about a yard away, not wanting to really look at anyone, specially not the crumbling husk of Percy. "Do you... Is there..." He didn't know what to ask.

"Is there anything we can get you, Percy? Is there anything we can do?" Piper asked earning her a thankful glance from Jason. She needed to be strong for her friends. She knew Annabeth wouldn't want them mourning her loss, she'd want them out and continuing the mission. She would grieve later. Still, it was hard to do much of anything. Percy didn't respond for a few seconds then he shook his head absently.

"No... no, not really." His voice sounded distant, rough. The group looked at each other, unclear as to where they should go next. They walked a few yards away from Percy, not wanting him to be alone, but not wanting to be overheard. Jason made eye contact with Piper, his eyes asking her if she was okay. She nodded numbly.

"So, what should we do?" Leo asked.

"We need to tell Chiron. We also need to find out where that next giant is... If there's another one like _that _one, we need to tell someone." Jason responded.

"Back to Camp Half-Blood?"

"No, not yet. Let's go to the Roman camp and see if they've had any news. We'll call Chiron from there." Leo nodded and went over to the helm of the ship, preparing for its trip to Camp Jupiter. Jason took Piper's hand and squeezed it encouragingly.

"Piper, I'm going to need your help. I'm.. I'm going to have to ask Percy some questions. I need you to help him keep calm. I wish I didn't have to ask him so soon but, we need to know in case... in case something like this happens again." Piper nodded, not quite sure on the strength of her own voice yet. Percy was slumped close to the control center so they could all talk and keep an eye on each other.

"Percy?" Jason asked, kneeling down so he could look at Percy more closely. "Percy. I need to ask you some questions, is that alright?" Percy nodded numbly but Piper wasn't sure if he heard the question.

"Percy, what... what did he mean when he said 'bonded'?" Percy didn't seem to hear it or if he did, he didn't react.

"Percy, tell us about the mission you and- that you did before this one." Piper said, leaking a little charmspeak into her request. She figured this was the most painless way to get through this. Percy looked defeated.

"We - after our last mission, Annabeth and I - we..." After a moment, Percy closed his eyes and his head fell slightly as he buried his face behind his hands. "We were on a mission when we ran into Hypnos. She woke him up to see if he had any information about the mission. Instead, he showed me- he showed me my greatest fear... her death." A sob escaped his voice as he couldn't say her name. His hands fell to his side. He sounded shaken as he continued. "I was so scared. We left after that and finished the mission soon after. She found a rental house nearby on the beach and we took it. The mission was long and we were tired... The entire time, I just - I just kept thinking about what Hypnos showed me. The fear didn't go away. I told her and then, that night, we - we slept together. For the first time. It made me feel like she was real." Piper wasn't sure if she was surprised because they finally did sleep together or because they waited this long to finally do so. Either way, their relationship had always been deep. Deeper than, perhaps, some could have thought was possible. This just solidified it.

And made everything so much more tragic.

"Thanks, Percy." Jason said after a few moments, thinking about what he said. "That lets us know that they can sense bonds. Percy, we're going back to the roman camp now. Once we're there, we need to tell Chiron about... what happened." Percy looked surprised then melted into a sob, his hands gripping his chest. It was the first time Percy really ever sobbed in front of them. It was heart breaking and somehow terrifying. His body shook from the power of his sobs, his face hidden again in his hands again. Piper, after a moment hesitation, put a comforting hand on his back. Tears fell down her face.

"Percy, why don't you go to sleep. We'll wake you when we get to camp." Again, Piper put charmspeak into her voice and Percy was asleep before he could really argue back. Piper stood and wiped the tears from her face silently.

Jason stood and walked over to his girlfriend and hugged her tightly where she sobbed into his shoulder. Her best friend was dead.

Percy

Kids ran up to Percy as they landed, expecting a hero's story. Even in the Roman camp, Percy was still seen as a hero. Jason's presence didn't help. They cheered as others alerted camp members of the return of their cabin leaders, all except the mysterious absence of one. Percy didn't want to be there. His eyes dropped to the ground. He didn't want to be anywhere. He wanted sleep though he knew it wouldn't fix anything. He wanted to be alone. Most of all, he wanted Annabeth back.

He looked back up. Suddenly, Reyna was there along with most of the camp. She was talking. It took Percy a few seconds to hear what she was saying despite that no one else was speaking.

"Percy? Jason called while on the way here saying you were on a mission against some giants. Have you found any of them? Where's Annabeth?" The name both cut through Percy's heart and simultaneously felt so distant. He felt so tired.

"Reyna, maybe we should go to the meeting room. We need to call Chiron while we're there. We can explain to both of you that way." Someone suggested. Jason maybe.

He wasn't sure how he got there, but Percy found himself sitting in one of the chairs in Reina's office. Chiron was already there, showing up in the message.

"What's happening?" Reyna said with more urgency. Chiron looked like he wanted to ask the same thing.  
"Chiron... Annabeth... Annabeth is dead." Jason said. Percy felt like the statement should make him feel sad but he found he couldn't feel much of anything anymore. Nothing other than tired.

"What?!" Chiron and Reina exclaimed together. "No... no - she..." The centaur sank into his seat. "Yes, I - I'm sorry. How?" After a moment, Leo explained as best he could. For a while, no one said anything. Awkward silence filled the air as Chiron stood up to gaze blankly out the window looking over the camp, thinking before returning to the table.

"I... I never thought- well, never mind. I'm sorry, I've just gotten so used to her being here with us. She didn't leave any clues?" Jason shook his head and Chiron sighed. "Annabeth always was brave one... After the mission, we will give her a proper burial. As of right now, we need to focus. It's what she would have wanted. Percy, are you okay to continue?" Numbly, Percy nodded his head. He would finish this mission for her. For the girl that sacrificed her life to save him.

"Chiron, do you know anything about the third giant?" Jason asked but as Chiron opened his mouth, Reyna cleared her throat.

"We actually received information that one was coming here. We were just preparing to send you an message when you showed up."

"Here? To the camp?" Jason asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Yes. We expect him to arrive in two days. The camp has been preparing for battle. Activities other than training have been suspended. We've heard word from my sister that he may have an army with him. Either way, we should prepare for the worst. From what it sounds like, we may actually be outnumbered on this occasion." Subconsciously, Reyna's lips tightened and her chin lifted fractionally. It was a look that Annabeth took on when she was scared, trying to gather courage and to not look weak. The gesture made Percy's stomach roll. Chiron stopped and paused for a moment.

"Right. For now, try and get some rest. Good luck- to all of you. And Percy..." Percy looked at the centaur. The conversation looked like it aged him several years. "I am so sorry." Percy merely nodded. With that, the message had ended.

"You can all stay here if you need. Stay in some of the spare rooms we have." Reyna suggested hesitantly.

"What?" Ask Jason.

"Aren't you leaving in the morning?"

"No! We're going to protect the camp. The giants are our mission and the camp is my home, of course we'll stay. Right?" He nervously glanced at Piper who nodded once. While Piper didn't like Reyna too much, it _was _still Jason's home and she had to protect it with him. Reyna glanced between them before muttering a quiet, yet sincere "thanks" and sweeping from the room. Before she went through the door she paused and looked in Percy's general direction though not actually at him, he noticed.

"They'll be happy to see you, Percy. The mission has been making them nervous." Percy took it that she meant Hazel and Frank, his old friends from the time when he was here.

Percy let his eyes drop to his hands before letting a quiet agreement escape his mouth. Maybe Frank and Hazel would keep his mind distracted. After that, the up-coming battle would keep his mind occupied. Then, he would just have to tackle everything day to day.

The next day was spent preparing for the upcoming battle. The camp was up before the sun, preparing for the oncoming battle. The air was thick with tension as the nervous, anxious demigods walked across the camp gathering their weapons. The roman's spirit, as frayed as it was, was still tough enough to rival even the ancient Romans themselves.

Percy, however, wasn't doing as well. He couldn't sleep that night, his mind haunted by the previous day's events. Even when exhaustion took him, he awoke covered in sweat, the night refusing to let him forget. After a few nightmares and several hours of Percy tossing and turning, his mind finally completely processed the death of Annabeth. She had died. She died trying to make sure he lived. He would never hear her voice again except in his dreams. He would never hold her again. She would never glare at him, never yell at him, never call him seaweed brain, never kill him again, never hold him, never have a family with him. He would never see her again. It was the second time since she passed that he broke down and sobbed. The sobs were from so deep in his soul that it wracked his body and ripped through his chest. Eventually, sleep took him and for the first time that night, he slept without a nightmare.

Percy focused on putting on his armor and cleaning his sword. As he finished placing his sword on his belt, Jason came to collect him. Reyna was starting a strategy meeting where the head leaders of the camp were gathered (plus Piper and Leo). Everything went by in a blur.

The day of the battle wasn't much better. By the time Leo came to get Percy from his bed, the camp was all dressed and on edge. Everyone was itching for battle or itching to be busy with something completely unrelated. Reyna had her best Roman armor on, her cape flowing behind her and dogs on either side. Her raven black hair drew dark contrast to the blood red cape, her sword shining brightly on her waist. She looked so battle ready that it gave the camp a moral boost with her simply walking through it. Jason knew it was all a show. Reyna was terrified, worried, running through all the scenarios and battle plans she knew before the attack.

"Right." Reina said as she took her position ahead of the preparing campers. Her hand was resting gently on the hilt of her sword. "Listen up everyone. We've gotten word that the enemy is not far. We've gone over the assignments. If you don't know what you're doing, then ask your group leader. Remember, you are Romans. You've trained for this moment. Rome has protected you and given you a good life, now it is your job to protect it and make sure you keep it. May Jupiter guide us! Now get to your positions!" The camp threw up a sort of "hoorah" and ran in an extremely organized fashion to their positions. Percy followed Reyna to the front lines. He felt like an outsider but he _would _finish this for Annabeth.

The camp was in position within a few minutes. Percy noted that that sort of organization was something only the Romans could pull off and he was happy they were on his side. Lost in his thoughts about the Roman camp, he almost missed the warning call from a scout. The enemy was closing in.

Over the hill of the camp, the giant's army emerged and Percy's heart fell. There were tons of them. There was no way they would win.


	9. The Battle

Percy

The emerging army was terrifying. There was no way these Romans, no matter how skilled and disciplined they were, were going to win. The enemy, spread far and wide, came to a halt at the top of the hill. Percy glanced over to Reyna and for a second, he saw the panic on her face. Reyna refused to show fear however and tightened her features.

"Front line! Hold! Do not let the enemy through! You are our first defense!" Reyna's command was met with a short but deep cheer of understanding.  
"Archers," Reyna continued to shout, "hold your fire until I say! Fire straight and true!" Percy looked back at the archers. Unfortunately, Rome was never big on archery and Camp Jupiter was no difference. There weren't many archers as it was and the few there were, weren't very well trained. Archery was seen as "cowardly" since it wasn't direct combat.

Suddenly the army charged. Whether they were ready or not, the enemy was coming. Percy drew his sword and he saw Reyna do the same. This battle was going to be different then his others. His other half wasn't going to fighting alongside him. He would be weak. _I'll just have to be better than before_, Percy thought as he crouched into position.

"FIRE!" Percy heard Reyna scream. The archers released their arrows. A few enemies fell but whenever one fell, another came forwards to replace them. There seemed to be no end in sight. Percy braced himself for impact.

"FIRE!" Reyna yelled, louder and more commanding, more confident. No, not Reyna Another voice? Percy's head spun to his right towards the sea and he couldn't believe his eyes. There, two new ships sat floating above the water. Greek ships. Every archer from Apollo cabin was on the top deck of one, firing with more power then Percy had ever seen. When the first line released their arrows, it dropped to one knee and let the line behind it fire, allowing for a constant volley of arrows to rain from the sky.

Percy looked back at the charging army. They ran with less speed, less confidence, the arrival of new ships were shaking their confidence. Many more of their comrades were missing but there were still so many more coming.

A battle cry emerged from behind the Apollo archers and suddenly, bursting explosively through like a roman candle, a flaming chariot emerged accompanied with rider in full battle armor that was ablaze, spear in hand. Clarisse was charging straight at the enemy, Ares cabin following powerfully on foot. Their run was so powerful it shook the ground and sounded like the earth was splitting. The Ares cabin looked terrifying and for a second, Percy considered running himself. Then it dawned on him that _they _were his allies.

"COME ON, YOU FREAKS!" Percy couldn't tell if Clarisse meant for that to signal the Romans to join her or just as an insult to the enemy. She put herself right in the center like an arrow piercing the bulls eye of a target. Every swipe and jab of her spear was so wide that it took out several enemies at once. When the rest of her cabin caught up to cover her, Clarisse turned her chariot towards Percy and the rest of the Romans and approached.

"Couldn't think you could defeat an army without us, could you? You're more of an idiot then I took you for, Jackson. Chiron told us everything." Percy managed a slight smile. Clarisse turned to Reyna "We will destroy them all but take whatever falls through the cracks. Keep your stupid camp safe. We will take the first few barrages but you might need to pull your own weight after that." She paused, as if waiting for Reyna to fight her on this but Reyna was either too stunned or too confused to answer. "We heard Annabeth died in battle. No greater death then that and no greater cause for battle then revenge. We will avenge our fellow Greek. Annabeth was okay for an Athenian. Sad to see the good ones go. Anyway, don't fall asleep on us, _Roman._" She turned her chariot back towards the battle but not before glancing at Percy quickly.

It took Reyna a second to regain her composure but when she did, she was back in full control. "Line one!" She yelled. "Rectangle formation! Let the Greeks break apart the enemy lines and follow through! Charge!" She pointed her spear towards the enemy and ran. Percy followed suit.

Another wave of arrows were flying overhead and the roar of charging feet was deafening. Percy reached the enemy lines around the same time the Romans did. He slashed and cut with as much passion and anger as he could find. They were the reason Annabeth was gone. They would feel the pain of loss.

Percy wasn't sure how long they kept it up or how many enemies were killed, but eventually the first wave of enemies retreated. Only when Reina put her hand on his shoulder did he realize they had stopped.

"We need to go back for now, Percy. We need rest. The other lines can take over for now." Reyna said softly. Percy nodded and started to walk back only then noticing the soreness of his muscles.

When they were safely behind the defenses, Percy noticed a group of people waiting for him and his heart dropped. The Athena cabin was there, waiting for him.  
"Percy," one of them said, "we will fight for Annabeth." And that was that. They had nothing more to say. They would deal with the sorrow after the battle. It's what Annabeth would have done.

The second wave was defended by Jason and Leo. Leo had machines and boats firing at full blast. Between Leo's terrifying new weapons and Jason flying around slashing and striking down enemies with bolts of lightning like Zeus himself, the enemy didn't know what to be more scared of. It wasn't long before they were routed.  
To everyone's surprise (and Jason's dismay), Piper took on the third wave alone. Her words made the enemy drop their weapons and run. Percy couldn't hear what was said but it was either extremely terrifying or way too soothing. When Piper returned, he noted that her face was set in a look of determination and confidence. She truly looked like a daughter of Aphrodite. She was also probably the scariest of them all he realized. With a few words, she could make the enemy turn and run for their lives.

By now, night was setting in and the enemy seemed to have routed for the time to either rest or plan. This was fine with the demi-gods. They were all exhausted anyway. Reyna set some Roman and Greek watch guards to warn for the next attack but otherwise, most of the camp was asleep wherever they could find room while still fully armored which seemed to be mainly the field.

Morning came with a blowing of the warning horn. Another attack was coming. Percy jumped, startled, until he understood what was happening. He ran alongside other demi-gods to the defensive line. Another huge attack was coming. The Apollo cabin was already readying their bows and the Roman's were gathering their spears and shields into defensive walls. They needed a flank. They needed to attack from the side or else they'd be crushed.

Percy looked over to the sides when he spotted the water. The water looked nothing like it did the night it took Annabeth but it still haunted him. He'd have to get over it. He ran for the water ignoring the calls from Reyna and the others. The water felt sharp yet soothing as he dove in. It felt like a warm blanket as it healed his sore muscles and mind. He closed his eyes and felt at peace for the first time in days. Until he heard the muffled warning horns again. He opened his eyes and vaguely saw the enemy attacking the demi-god line.

With a surge of power, Percy pushed himself from the water. He stood atop the constant up flow of water as it wrapped around his legs a few yards into the air. He towered over everyone and everything. He suddenly felt angry. The death of his girlfriend, the arrogance of another attack. He would destroy them all. The water felt the feel his rage and became violent with him.

Percy charged at the enemy with water still trailing behind him. By the time they looked up, it was too late. Percy was already upon them, crushing them with the power of the ocean. He twisted and slashed and pushed his way through the enemy. He wasn't sure how long he was at it. All he knew was that he was pushing the enemy back. Percy quickly lost sight of Reyna in the chaos of the battle. Between his intense power and the mass of enemies, not much could actually be seen.  
He was starting to lose power. Using the water with as much force as he was, was seriously draining him. Percy was pretty sure that soon, he wouldn't even be able to lift his hands much less lift water.

"Percy! Get out of there!" He heard Reyna yell. He was trying, he really was but there were just too many of them. He was swarmed. Riptide swung lift and right, cutting down those who got too close. He was back peddling towards the defensive line but he couldn't see. He kept concentrating on the enemy. He was so tired he almost didn't see the leaping enemy until it was too late.

Suddenly a yell came from seemingly nowhere. "PERCY." In a blur, Percy was tackled to the ground with such force, all of the air it held was pushed out. He looked back at where he was. A spear was embedded a few inches into the ground exactly where he just stood. He glanced up at the face that hovered a foot above his own and he couldn't remember how to breathe. This wasn't making sense. His brain felt like it stopped processing anything and everything. He didn't hear anything. He didn't see anything but the face before him. Somehow, he managed a name. The name of the person that saved him.

"Annabeth?"

_Authors notes:_  
_No seriously, did you think I'd kill her off after all of that? Course not. Yeesh! Annabeth is too good a character to just let fall off a cliff.  
Sorry for the sporadic updates, still on Hurricane Sandy recovery (I'm a Long Islander)._

_This isn't the end, I just thought I should respond to your comments (which I enjoy reading). Thanks for reading / commenting!_


	10. The Return

Percy

"Annabeth?" He managed to choke out. He couldn't believe it. Here she was. Right in front of him. Her hair was more of a mess than ever and her armor was tattered and torn. The jeans she was wearing were sliced as if she went through a thorn bush. Her face was covered in tiny scrapes with a large cut above her eyebrow that at one point was flowing blood freely down her face but was now dry. Even though she seemed dead on her feet, she still managed to look outraged.

"Percy, what the hell are you doing?! Why didn't you move?!" She spat at him. Despite that she was yelling at him, the sound of her voice washed over him and made him feel at home. After a few moments of silence, Annabeth groaned and stood up, pulling Percy up with her. The Athena cabin, assumingly seeing Annabeth, had made its way to them and was fighting off enemies so they could recover. Their loyalty to their cabin leader and oldest sister was still as strong as ever.

"Come on, Percy. We have to get back to the defensive line." With that, she drew her knife and cut a path back towards the Romans.

By the time they arrived back to the defensive line, everyone had more or less seen Annabeth in the chaos of the battle. Jason and the others waited for them just behind the main defense. Piper tackled her best friend before anyone could even get a word out.

"Oh gods. Annabeth. Thank the gods you're not dead." She sobbed.

"Dead? Why would I be dead?" Annabeth asked confused. Piper let go and stepped back just as Annabeth's sisters and brothers were reaching them. They all smiled and nodded at Annabeth, letting her know they were happy to see her.

"We'll talk about that later." Reina said. While she sounded cold, Percy could see her face was a little less stressed then before. "We've still got quite the army to defeat and there's still the matter of the giant."

"Giant?"

"He disappeared just as the army approached us this morning." Jason said. Almost as if it were planned, a giant billowing yell ripped through the sky.

"DEMI-GODS." Everyone stopped and spun to look for the cause of this voice. It wasn't hard to find. A giant stood behind his army that stood at the ready. The giant was huge. His skin was pale but shadows moved beneath it. The porcelain rough skin flaked off in places is if falling off a poorly painted wall. His eyes glowed red and his featured seemed so sharp they could pierce anything they touched. Smoke billowed from his mouth as if clouds of smog were made strictly from him. His limbs were slightly too long and the purple behind his eyes made him look sickly and disturbing. Fire fell from his head like a waterfall. One fist was clenched, knuckles whiter than a ghost, while the other was wrapped around a large rectangular blade. It looked more like a huge cleaver rather than a sword.

"You will die, here. Now." It continued.

"What's the plan?" Leo asked. Everyone looked at Annabeth, including Reina who had seemed to accept her own position as defensive leader. Annabeth thought for a few moments before looking at the Roman leader.

"You okay with organizing the defense?" Annabeth asked in a flat tone.

"Of course. That's what I do." Reina responded in the same matter of speaking.

"Then I'll take the giant." Annabeth said turning her attention back to the giant.

"Not without me." Percy said sternly. He wasn't letting her leave him again.

"No, Percy. You need to help with the defense. For all we know, the giant could just be using himself as a distraction. Stay here!" With that, she ran at the enemy.  
_Like hell, _Percy thought to himself before quickly started after her. He didn't bother telling the others where he was going or why, they knew.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY WITH THEM." Annabeth said angrily when she noticed him following.

"There's no way I'm leaving you!" She groaned in response but didn't slow her running and didn't try to talk him out of it again.

As she ran, she began to glow. Percy was one second away from tackling her when the light started to weave around her head, forming the kind of helmet often seen on statues of Athena. Her knife began to shimmer into the shape of a spear. Light wove strands into her chest armor, turning it from metal to cloth (which seemed like a setback to Percy). Around her left shoulder, however, light started to weave a complex arrangement of interlocking plates around the top and ending just a few inches above the elbow. Each one of her steps started to sound like distant canon fire.

_The blessing of Athena..._Percy realized. Annabeth was terrifying. She was no longer just a very smart woman that fought well, she was now truly a War Goddess's daughter.

Whatever the giant did, Annabeth saw it five moves before. She moved with amazing swiftness and ease. It wasn't her planning, agility or power that caught Percy's attention the most; it was the look on her face. She was so extremely focused that her grey eyes seemed to be lit by a fire behind them. Not only was she so extremely focused, she also looked so sure of the outcome of the fight as if this was just a kids game. Her eyes told the enemy that she was sure of their defeat and if anyone fighting her looked into her eyes, they would drop their weapons and retreat as quickly as their bodies could take them.

As Annabeth fought, Percy tried to keep the other enemies off of her. She needed to focus and he wouldn't let that focus be broken. The enemy seemed distracted and intimidated by such a small girl wielding such enormous power so close to them, even if she wasn't aiming at them. Fighting them was easy. Most of them had seemed to lose their resolve and fought with more doubt than confidence. It was an easy fight for Percy. Jason and Leo had moved in and were taking a bulk of his fighting away now, knowing Percy probably wanted to help his girlfriend. Not that she seemed to need it much.

Annabeth swung her spear from one shoulder to the other and in its wake was a trail of smoke arose as if from a canon. The spear didn't hit but caused the giant to take a step back. She jabbed at the him, making a sound like gunfire. The giant dodged and rolled to the side, launching to his feet in a powerful leap and sliced his towards sword towards Annabeth. She waited until the last second before pulling a small piece of fabric from her waist and throwing it at the giant's feet. As it flew, the piece of fabric expanded and became a woven net, catching him and bringing him to the ground. The sword was just about to catch her until she twisted enough so that it only caught the plates on her left shoulder. In a grand leap, Annabeth gathered the spear with two hands and jabbed down into the giants chest. He roared and exploded into small pieces, which disintegrated in the air.

Annabeth was kneeling, spear in the ground when she looked up towards Percy and the army behind him. She suddenly looked so much like her mother that it frightened him and made him look away. That's when he noticed the overwhelming majority of Greek and Roman demi-gods verses enemies. The Roman's had formed a mobile wall with their shields and spears, destroying all that stay in their path. The Greeks were firing arrows and covering whatever small hole in their defense that the Roman's had missed.

The enemy was running away. They did it. They defended Camp Jupiter, defeated the giant, and they were still alive! Percy turned back to look at Annabeth, smile on his face. The demi-gods were already cheering in victory. Annabeth smiled and she looked very much like herself again. Her blessing started to unweave back into streams of light and they flowed into the wind, disappearing in the bright sky.

"I told you I had it." She said with a huff. Suddenly Annabeth's smile faded, her knees buckled and she fell towards the ground.

"Annabeth!" Percy cried as he ran to her, catching her clumsily in his arms before she hit the dirt.

"Just... tired. And maybe broken ribs. Augh... Definitely... broken... ribs..." and she fainted in his arms.

Annabeth

Annabeth woke up feeling every muscle in her body hating her. Even moving her fingers felt like the days at camp when Clarisse was in charge of the day's weight training. Her throat felt dry and her eyes felt heavy.

"Awake?" Said someone beside her. She knew who it was before her brain even fully comprehended it and she smiled.

"It would seem so." Her answer was met with a grunt. She turned her head, not without considerable effort and groaning, to look at Percy. His expression was unreadable. He looked... annoyed? Relieved? Angry? Happy? She couldn't tell and she wasn't used to it.

"What's wrong?" She asked. He didn't answer not did his expression change. If Annabeth was in better condition, she'd probably be annoyed at his lack of response but she hardly had the energy to stay awake as it was.

"Take some ambrosia." He said monotonously, lifting a small piece of the godly food. He crumbled some of it up and dropped it into her mouth. She managed to chew a small amount and swallowed. She was already starting to feel better. At least now she might be able to lift her hand.

"Thanks." She tried to slide her hand into his. Instead, he took it lightly in his, playing with her fingers rather than holding them. "What's wrong, Percy? I'll get better soon. I mean, the ambrosia is already taking effect. When I woke up, I could hardly open my eyes. I guess that battle really took it out of me didn't it?" She chuckled. Percy's look darkened. Annabeth couldn't remember if she had ever seen Percy angry with her, or at all for that matter.

"It wasn't the battle that took it out of you, was it?" It was less of a question and more of a statement. _He can't know, could he?  
_  
"Percy, what are you talking about?" His face grew stiff as if trying not to be angry.

"Never mind. Go back to sleep." He got up and walked towards the door.

"Percy?" She called after him, tears starting to come to her eyes. He didn't stop. Percy opened the door just as Piper was reaching it and let her in. She took a quick look at him before looking at Annabeth. Piper came over to Annabeth's bed and grabbed the glass of water that was left for her on the nightstand.

"He'll get over it." She said, smiling and handing the glass to Annabeth.

"Get over what?" Annabeth responded, taking a sip from the glass. Piper shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Obviously, Piper knew something. Before responding, the girl in the seat sighed and looked up at her bedridden friend with almost a look of reproach before dropping her eyes to the floor.

"We know what happened, Annabeth, when... you know, when you left the ship and only left a note." The blood drained from Annabeth's face and her stomach lurched.

"How?"

"Leo has this new thing that can fly through the air to find people. It couldn't tell us where you were." Piper sighed at looked up at her friend. Cuts till mared her face but someone seemed to have cleaned the blood off; probably Percy's doing. Dark circles hadn't gone away though they were faded a little more than the day before.

"Percy told us about what Hypnos showed him." Suddenly, the child of Athena looked more tired than she had before she collapsed and yet simultaneously embarrassed. She caught herself quickly, however, and raised her chin as if prepared to defend herself. "Annabeth, I really thought Percy was going to lose his mind. First, he gets the vision from Hypnos then you _actually_leave him and seemingly get yourself killed. Percy was completely destroyed... He didn't eat, speak, focus... he showed up to things when we called him but he wasn't really there." Annabeth couldn't look in her friends eyes anymore. Guilt was threatening to swallow her whole.

"I didn't know..." Annabeth said quietly.

"Why didn't you tell one of us?"

"I thought you'd try and stop me... If I told Percy, he would've come with me. I couldn't... I couldn't risk _losing _him. Not again. That time Hera took him was enough. If I told you then Jason would've come looking for you. Leo needed to command the ship, he's the only one that can drive it other than me. I didn't have a choice..."

"You had a lot of choices, daughter of the goddess of _wisdom._" Piper sighed and shook her head. "You need to trust us more."

"I do trust you!" Annabeth said, defensively.

"Yeah and that's why you told me about you and Percy sleeping together." Piper snapped. Annabeth actually looked like she was beaten.

"That's private." She finally mumbled out. Piper raised an eyebrow in response. Annabeth was beaten and she knew it.

"You know, he might be mad but I bet he's right outside." Piper said with a smile pulling at her lips. She knew Percy wouldn't leave Annabeth for a second. He was angry, but not angry enough to ignore her if she needed anything. Annabeth nodded and stared intently into her sheets as if figuring out things in her head. Piper touched her friends shoulder and walked over to the door. Annabeth heard the door open and a few seconds later, close again.

Annabeth looked up to see the boy she loved standing in front of the door, looking at her with his unreadable facial expression on. He looked tired and frail as if he hadn't slept or eaten in a while. Suddenly the realization of what she did to him dawned on her. He really had shut down.


	11. The Talk

Annabeth

Percy stood in the doorway, waiting for Annabeth to say something. She didn't know what to say or how to explain it. Part of her knew he was right but the another side, the less reasonable side, was annoyed at him.

She _did_ try to save his life after all. Annabeth pushed that thought away as quickly as it had arisen. If the situation was reversed and Percy was laying in this bed and he was in the doorway, she'd be even angrier most likely.

"Percy-"

"What happened?" He cut in. He still wasn't making a move towards the door but at least he was speaking to her.

"What?"

"When you fell, what... happened? How are you still here?" Percy asked. Annabeth looked back at her bed sheets and slumped back into her pillows, the weight of the memory of that battle weighing heavily on her mind. She told it as well as she could but it seemed so dark and chaotic now. The strain of remembering it all made the words come out slowly.

"After I fell, I tried to get my hand out but... the giant still had me. He started to disintegrate quickly after falling over the edge, leaving me falling alone. I hit a ledge on the cliff, or at least my ribs did..." Annabeth rubbed her ribs gently now, the memory causing them to throb. They were still broken but were starting to repair. "They took most of the force of the fall and broke but at least it slowed my fall a little. Just enough so when I hit the water, I wouldn't be crushed. When I _did _hit the water though, it seemed a lot warmer, more calm, and somehow _softer_ than it was when I saw it. I thought it was just my imagination, as if I were slipping into shock but then... I heard your dad. He said something about how you wouldn't forgive him if he let me die in the ocean. Then the water pushed me gently up onto land. After that, I only had to make it to where I told Blackjack to meet me. That was a lot harder than I thought it would be... fell in a thorn bush a few times..." Annabeth chuckled to herself slightly.

"When I was waiting for Blackjack, I fell asleep. I was so tired. When I woke up, most of my adrenaline had gone and I realized that I broke more bones than I thought. My left arm was broken. Broke it when I broke my rips... and I think my collarbone was broken or sprained from when the giant grabbed me... I couldn't move. Blackjack was there when I woke up though. He had some ambrosia. It was enough to fix most of my arm and collarbone. Nothing I could do about the ribs for the time being. When I was confident that I could ride Blackjack and not fall off, I had him bring me here, to Camp Jupiter. I figured they'd help me get well enough to get back to the ship. We had to stop a couple of times because I got tired and I didn't want to push Blackjack as much as I did... I don't think he's forgiven me yet..." Annabeth looked sadly into her sheets, remembering the terrifying times where it was just the two of them, neither one able to really fight. One, broken and exhausted, the other, exhausted and lost.

"He has." Annabeth jumped. Percy had moved into the seat next to her bed without her knowing and was staring absently into the floor. "He came by to see how you were when Piper was here."

"Oh. Well, that's good." Awkward silence crept in then and hung in the air as Percy thought.

"I really thought I watched you die." Percy said silently, almost to himself. Annabeth didn't know how to answer. Her heart broke seeing him so distraught. "I really thought I watched you die." He said louder, his eyes finally meeting hers. His eyes were wet and puffy.

"Percy..." Annabeth picked her hand up, ignoring the complaints from her ribs, and whipped away the tear that had fallen on his face. Percy stood up quickly and started to pace, speaking angrily.

"You almost _took_ yourself _away_ from me! You KNEW how much the vision from Hypnos haunted me! If you had actually died then I'd never forgive myself! I'd never forgive you! Anything! I should've woken up when you left! I should've felt you LEAVE the bed. I..." Percy threw up his hands and stopped pacing, ruffling his hair. He looked at the ground and sighed. "You didn't even tell me. No goodbye. Just a note." Tears fell from Annabeth's face. She was angry but didn't know why. He was right, she _knew _he was right and for some reason, that only made her angrier. Percy came back to his seat after a few moments of silence and slumped over, defeated and out of anger or energy. He clearly wasn't going ot say anymore for the moment, so Annabeth spoke up, quietly and slowly.

"Going out on my own again... I hated it. It was just like all those times where I was alone as a kid; scared and powerless. For once I wasn't running _away_ from something though, I was running _to_ it. When I ran as a kid, it was to get away from my dad and my step-mother and because I had no place or no _one_ to go to. This time, I ran because I did have someone. I didn't want that someone to get taken away..." Percy didn't look up and he didn't say anything for a few moments. Annabeth was starting to worry that she had said something wrong when he suddenly spoke.

"Watching you on Leo's machine thing was the hardest thing I've ever done, Annabeth." She looked up at him. He was no longer angry, just tired and sad.

"I'm going to kill Leo..." She muttered to herself. Percy chuckled slightly making Annabeth's heart race.

"How do you feel?" He asked, his eyes full of compassion and concern. Annabeth knew it wouldn't help to lie about her situation in an attempt to spare his feelings. Lying would only make things worse.

"Ribs hurt still. My muscles hate me. A lot." She answered with a grimace.

"When can you take more ambrosia?"

"Probably tomorrow. We'll give it 24 hours just to be safe. Even with that, it's going to take me some time to get better. I won't be able to fight for a while."

"Good." Annabeth made an annoyed face while Percy fixed her blankets.

"I'm going to be in a bed for at least a _week _at this rate_!" _She said with exacerbation.

"Good!" He answered firmly.

"What am I going to do for a _week?"  
_  
"Stay in bed." She groaned in response. "Meanwhile, you are not going to leave my sight. You're stuck with me, mainly because you physically can't kick me out." She smirked.

"Good." She said in his tone mockingly. "But what about the rest of the mission?" Percy thought for a second.

"You're asking me for a plan? Did you hit your head too?" She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, seaweed brain." She thought for a moment before answering. "I'll go on the rest of the mission with you."

"Annabe-"

"_Just_ as an adviser. You can't expect me to leave you while you go off and battle giants, could you?"

"You mean like what _you _did?"

_Yikes_, Annabeth thought. Awkward silence crept up again.

"So, did you know you were going to get the blessing from your mom back there?"

"No, actually." Annabeth smiled slowly and looked at her hands. "I was just hoping you'd help me for long enough for Clarisse to come in."

"You knew I would."

"The blessing was nice though."

"_Nice_? You were amazing! You moved before he even thought about it! You were glowing!" Percy said excitedly, making Annabeth laugh then cringe at the pain in her ribs. Percy's eyebrows scrunched together.

"You really are cute when you're worried." Annabeth said, slightly out of breath from the pain.

"Yeah, yeah. So you've said. Let's not make a habit of it. Now go to sleep. We'll talk about the mission when you're awake."  
"Percy, I just woke up. I'm not tired yet! I'll sleep later." It was partially a lie. Annabeth just wanted to talk to Percy more but she really was getting tired.

"You need sleep."

"Later." Percy looked at her disapprovingly before leaning in and kissing her on the lips. The taste of sea salt on her mouth burned but she didn't care. The kiss made her heart skip a beat.

"You are _extremely_ stubborn." He said after pulling back slightly. Annabeth just smiled widely. "I love you. I really do. Even though you're extremely annoying sometimes." He kissed her again before finally sitting back in his seat. "Should I get the team together and talk about the mission here then?" Annabeth nodded and Percy walked over to the door and stood in the doorway until someone noticed him and came over. So it looked like Percy wasn't going to leave her alone after all, not even to talk to someone. She smiled to herself and shook her head. He was being stupid but it was sweet. After a few minutes of waiting, Piper, Jason and Leo came into the room.

"How are you feeling, Annabeth?" Jason asked as he walked in.

"Like I fell off a cliff." She joked.

"Dead?" Leo asked, sporting his usual childish grin.

"Almost!" She responded, laughing.

"Yeah well, I _wanted _to kill you for giving me a scare like that." Piper said as she sat begrudgingly in a chair near her best friend.

"Alright, alright. I get it. No more trying to save my friends."

"No, no more running off _on your own_to save your friends." Annabeth shot a joking glare at Piper who just stuck her tongue out childishly. This exchange caused the girls to laugh which hurt Annabeth's ribs, but she tried not to let anyone see, though Percy's eyebrows were crunched together by the time she looked up. Luckily Jason moved the group meeting along soon after.

Annabeth woke up feeling stiff and confused. For a split second she couldn't remember where she was or when she fell asleep. When she opened her eyes, not much light was filling the room. Only a small amount from the moon shone through the windows turning the room a warm blue tone. She must have fallen asleep during the meeting. Annabeth lifted her arm slowly, testing the healing effects of the ambrosia. To her dismay, her ribs were still definitely broken though not as much as before. The cuts on her face seemingly more or less gone which was good.

Annabeth slowly check the room, strictly from curiosity and boredom, and found herself smiling. There he was, slumped over in a seat looking extremely uncomfortable, the boy who said wouldn't leave her alone for a single second. In the dim light, Percy's face appeared soft and calm, the usual energy that sparked within him was tamed for the moment. His jet black hair was shining faintly blue. His lean and tan arms were folded across his chest, as if trying to keep warm. To Annabeth, Percy couldn't be any more attractive then he was right at that moment.

Percy shivered and moved his arms up closer to his chest, incoherent words escaping his mouth. Annabeth attempted to get out of bed and with enough cringing and effort, succeeded in doing so. She moved over to the boy in the chair and rubbed his arm gently, his skin cool like a summers breeze.

"Percy. Percy, come to bed." She said gently. He mumbled again. "Come on, Percy. Up you go."

"Mm... have to find.. Annabeth." She smiled.

"You already did that, seaweed brain. Now let's go." With as much strength as she had, she encouraged him to stand by pulling on him slightly. He began to comply.

"Love... her." She rolled her eyes and moved him into the bed. Once he was in, she followed suit. The simple effort of getting him into bed had cost her all of her energy and now her ribs began to throb worse than before.

"She loves you too, Percy." Whispered Annabeth. When all she received was a gentle snore for an answer, she allowed herself to fall back asleep; Percy keeping her warm.


	12. The First Night Back

Annabeth

Annabeth was starting to realize that the part of her that was going to take the longest to recover wasn't her body; It was her mind. The blessing from her mother had fried her brain. She couldn't think straight. Every so often, she could plan far beyond anything she could even hope to have seen on her best of days but they only came in flashes. The sudden brain surge would flash quickly into her mind and leave a sharp, burning hole in its wake bringing along with it a powerful migraine. Sleep was beyond difficult. Even with Percy by her side, she couldn't fight off the flickering images of possible giant strategies and plans.

Every time she woke up to the pain, she was just greeted by more complaints from her ribs. She wanted no more than to walk outside, maybe fresh air would clear her head. Between her head and her repairing body, she'd only be able to get up with assistance and there's no way Percy would let her leave the bed.

The worst part about the whole thing was that she couldn't help the others at all. She was useless in her current state. The best part about her, her brain, was gone. The very moment she formed a thought, the surge of pain washed over her. All she could do was sleep. Utterly useless. Sucking the heat from Percy's body, laying still on the bed, unable to formulate a plan, taking up her friend's time to take care of her. She was more than useless; she was a leech.

The group was back on the ship and moving towards their next location, back to Camp Half-Blood. Everyone was gathered in Annabeth's room where she was placed, painfully, by Percy and Jason right before they left Camp Jupiter, bed ridden still.

"So what are we up against?" Jason asked, standing between Piper and Leo just to the side of Annabeth's bed, arms crossed.

"The usual probably." Annabeth croaked.

"Giant murderous beasts crafted to defeat us specifically?" Leo said with a hint of his usual humor.

"Yep."

"Wonderful. We can't just have a regular vacation can we?"

"Nope."

"Chiron might have some info for us. Should we give him a call?" Jason suggested.

"Probably." Annabeth said shortly. Her mind wasn't fairing well and even the basic questions were wearing her down. As Jason and Leo got an Iris message ready, Percy leaned in closer to her, eyebrows furrowed in concern. His position on the edge of her bed was, as usual, comforting.

"You alright?" He whispered, hand rubbing her knee gently.

"Fine." She rubbed her eye gently, hoping to elevate the pain. He opened his mouth to protest but Annabeth cut him off. "I'll be fine. Stop worrying." He didn't look happy but he didn't press it anymore. Piper had noticed the conversation and wore the same look of concern but didn't ask.

"Hey Chiron! Hows it hangin'?" Leo asked.

"Leo! Jason! I'm glad to see you're doing alright. How about the others? Did you take care of the giant?"

"You didn't call him after the battle?!" Annabeth asked outraged.

"Annabeth! Oh thank the Gods! They said you were dead!"

"I really wish they didn't tell so many people that..." Annabeth said glaring at the boys.

"Are you alright?!"

"I'm alive."

"Why are you in bed?"

"Giants." Chiron seemed to notice her terse tone. He knew her the longest out of them all and thusly could read her best. That being said, he also knew not to ask her about it while there were so many people.

"Right. Well. The camp will be happy to hear you're alive. Your cabin and the Ares cabin should be arriving back here soon."

"Who knew they'd get along? Maybe the world _is_ ending." Leo interjected.

"Augh. Please don't say things like that. With us it's very possible." Piper said rolling her eyes.

"Anyway. We've been getting some reports from the rest of the state of some activity that could be giant related. To be honest, we're not really sure. Thalia has been keeping an eye on it and scouting around. No news yet."

"Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine. She's scheduled to report in tonight. Head back here and we'll discuss a plan. I'm happy to see you're all safe." Chiron took a good hardy look at Annabeth, the kind that only spoke to her. The kind of look that said "Stop doing stupid things and actually let yourself recover". After that, he signed off.

"What was that look about?" Leo asked. Annabeth looked down at her bed sheets and tried to think. Unfortunately the effort send another powerful throb through her find causing her to shut her eyes and pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Annabeth?" Whoever said her name sounded like it was speaking underwater. She took a deep breath and focused.

"I can't help you guys."

"Of course you can. You can-"

"No. Really. I can't." She took a deep breath and sighed as if annoyed that she had to explain this. "The blessing my mother gave me... I wasn't strong enough. My mind and body were weak from the days after my fight with the giant in Washington. The way my mother's blessing caused my brain to think... It overloaded my brain."

"Like too much power through an outlet. You blew a fuse." Leo said.

"Yeah, like that. Now, whenever I try to think, I get flashes of too many things at once. I can't sort them out."

"Like a bolt a lightning through water."

"Like tin foil in a microwave." Jason and Leo said in unison.

"Yes. Like that. Or those. Every time my brain has a thought, I get a blinding headache. Sometimes I feel dizzy and like I'm going to pass out. Usually I just feel tired..." Annabeth rubbed her eyes again, trying to push out the sleepy feeling. "Sorry everyone. You'll have to defeat the rest of the giants without me." No one responded."It's not like you haven't done missions without me. You three," she pointed to Jason, Leo, and Piper, "went on a mission without me the second you reached Camp Half-blood the first time. Percy, you went on mission with Hazel and Frank. You'll all be fine. Maybe if I really rest I'll get better sooner and I can come back in to the fight." She smirked.

"Maybe with Annabeth stuck in here we can take it easy!" Leo suggested, lightening the mood of the room. "We can eat and sleep and," he gasped comically, "maybe we can watch _tv _instead of doing warm ups!" Everyone laughed except Annabeth who was trying her best not to.

"Oh, no. If I come up there and find you all unprepared for battle I am _personally_ kicking your butt Leo Valdez!" Everyone laughed harder, this time Annabeth included.  
"Alright, alright everyone. Let's head to bed and get some rest for when we arrive in New York." Jason said, gathering Piper and Leo. Once they wished her to feel better and left, Percy felt her forehead.

"What're you doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Making sure you don't have a fever."

"Why would I have a fever?"

"I don't know. Just thought I'd check." Annabeth smirked. "Time for some more ambrosia and nectar?" She nodded and he reached down to the floor and grabbed the backpack filled with their first aid supplies. The ambrosia and nectar really did its part on her bones but did little for her mind which earned a groan. "What is it?"

"They aren't helping my head..." she said irritated, handing the cup make to Percy who then placed it back in the bag for later. He started to undo his pants which made Annabeth's heart rate skyrocket. He had his boxers on but still...

"No? So... what do we do about that then?" He was pulling back the sheets on her bed to join her. It made Annabeth giddy (though she didn't show it of course) and moved over to give him some room.

"Sleep, I guess. I don't know. I've never read anything about this before." Percy was tucking them in now, gently enough where Annabeth's mending bones wouldn't be hurt but tightly enough where she would keep warm. Not that heat would be a problem with Percy in bed with her.

Percy was in bed with her.

Her stomach twisted. She wanted to be closer to him. So much closer. As if reading her thoughts, Percy looked at her sternly.

"Not tonight, Annabeth." She groaned in protest. "How do you expect to get better if you're busy spending your energy doing _that_ with me?" He was right but she still didn't like it. Her displeasure must have shown on her face because Percy laughed. "When you're better! I promise." He laid his hand on her hip, not wanting to hurt her. The distance was painful. She gripped his shirt and pulled herself closer to him, snuggling her face into his chest. His arms enclosed her shoulders. His warmth felt so good, so safe, so healing. Sighing happily, she twined her legs with his.

"You better make good on that promise."

"Oh you know I will. You know I want to."

"Uh huh." Annabeth responded drowsily. Percy chuckled and kissed her hair.

"Good night, wise girl."

"I don't feel so wise at the moment."

"Fine. Good night, _not-so-wise _girl. And no leaving me in the middle of the night!" She smiled and drifted off to sleep.

Percy

When Percy woke up, he was relieved to find a certain blond in his arms. Annabeth was breathing gently in her sleep, looking as beautiful as ever, with one hand placed on his far shoulder. He smiled. Attempting to stretch his legs while not waking Annabeth, he heard a noise at the door.

"Percy?" he heard someone whisper. He lifted his head to see who was there.

"Yeah, Piper?"

"We have news. Can you come up?" He nodded his head and the dark haired girl disappeared, closing the door gently behind him. Now. How to get up without waking Annabeth...

"Go on, Percy." Annabeth muttered. She withdrew her arm from across his chest and turned over to go back to sleep.

"Sorry... I'll be back soon." He said, kissing her hair again.

"Uh huh. Don't forget pants." He smiled, put his pants back on, and went back out towards the deck.


	13. The Flight Home

Percy

Percy reached the deck to see the sun rising over the horizon, turning the sky around him all shades of gentle pinks and blues. While the air was crisp and sharp making Percy wish he remembered a jacket, he still couldn't help but notice how beautiful it all was.

That was until he saw why Piper called him up. The object of commanding attention stood on deck and Percy was sure he was dead or at least would soon be.  
Athena.

Percy tried not to whimper out loud and run away like his body was screaming at him to do. Instead, he forced himself to walk forwards. _Carefully. _He could swear he heard the funeral procession march playing and it didn't help that the others looked so completely terrified for his life.

"Percy." Athena said shortly as he drew near. Her eyes were still as grey as ever yet he could swear he saw literal fire behind them. She wore a simple button up, off white shirt, tucked into her dark green pants which fell into her brown hiking boots. The outfit would have been nice had the person not wearing it be the Goddess of War who was folding her arms so hard her knuckles were white.

"Ma'am." He inclined his head as a sort of bow. To be honest, he was so scared that she was going to take off his head that he didn't want to fully bow so he didn't have to take his eyes off of her.

"My daughter is back I hear."

"Yes."

"And she is well?"

"Erm... getting there?" Athena's eyes lowered at Percy's nervous response.

"What do you mean, 'getting there'?"

"Erm... she says she can't think. That the blessing fried her brain or something." Athena looked at him with her eyes still glaring into his soul as if trying to burn him alive. After several moments and one still intact Percy, Athena finally spoke.

"'Or something'..." She quoted slowly. "Piper, Jason, Leo. Would you mind leaving us a moment? I believe Percy and I have a number of things to talk about." The group all but ran off deck giving Percy one last look that just said 'we'll write something lovely on your tombstone'.

"Percy. Do you know why I gave her the blessing even though her mind and body were already so weak?" Percy shook his head. "I knew what might happen. I hoped she was strong enough to survive. It was a gamble, as many things are in strategy. Sometimes you must calculate the possibilities, act and hope for the best. I certainly do _not _like gambling when it will affect her life in particular but sometimes it seems I must. When working my daughter into the equation, I must always work another factor in. You." Percy swallowed. He was getting uncomfortably warm to the point where he was wondering if she was succeeding in her plan to set him aflame. "However much I try and convince her that you are not... _suited _for her, she remains with you."

Percy's heart dropped. Athena tried to convince Annabeth that Percy wasn't any good for her? He knew Athena didn't approve of him but he thought that was just a general warning like, 'anything happens to my daughter and I will end everything you love'. He didn't know whether to be upset she tried to convince Annabeth that he was bad for her, or to be happy that Annabeth ignored her mother and kept faith in him.

"You might not know this, Percy, but my daughter seems to be in love with you." The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, fighting a smile. "Being in love leads to terrible decision making. There have been countless amounts of great people to make terrible decisions made out of love that have ended in tragedy. One would do anything to ensure that the object of their... affection remains safe. Even something as rash as, oh, I don't know. Throwing oneself into the ocean in hopes a giant is slain in the process so that it may never get to that one person?" Percy instantly saw the moment his girlfriend went over the edge. He remembered the way his brain couldn't handle it. He couldn't... react. He couldn't think, he didn't see anything around him. Just the loss of half his heart.

"I gave her the blessing because, even if I didn't, even if she went in there with her bare hands, she would have thrown herself at that giant just to save you and in the process, would have most likely died. " Percy winced. Bad memories bubbled to the surface. "I gave her that blessing because I gambled that she would be strong enough to live through it. The chance of her death without it was 100 percent. With it, 50 50. It was not an easy call even knowing that." She stared at him good and long as that settled in.  
"Do you love her?"

"Yes." He said with more passion and force than he meant.

"Are you _in_ love with her?"

"Yes." He said with the same determination.

"Would you fall off the side of a cliff for her?"

"Yes." Athena stared at him long and hard. No longer with the same deadly fire, but more a solid look into his soul. It was so powerful, he couldn't help but to look away.

"Do _not_ throw yourself off a cliff, Percy Jackson." Athena said suddenly and very sternly. When Percy met her eyes again, she noticed that the Goddess's eyes were softer than before.

"I realize I may sound very... cold, sometimes. Perhaps, harsh. I do not mean to be so but it is how I am. I think logically. When it comes to my daughter, however, I always want one thing and that is for her to be happy. If you threw yourself off a cliff to save her, you would only be saving a part of her." Athena looked over at the rising sun and looked lost in thought. "How much of a person can you take away before they are unable to recover? Humans are amazing creatures but when it comes to their hearts, they can be more fragile than a flower. She might be half god, Percy, but she is half human and I would like, very much, for that human part to remain. For if she were to lose her humanity, she would become a thinking, planning, cold and very skilled machine; no better than Daedalus's laptop."

Percy nodded slowly. He understood completely. When Annabeth had fallen into the ocean, he didn't know if he was sure he'd want to be there. There was his mother, of course, but how can you move on when the love of your life isn't right there with you? What would he become? Would he hide away in the ocean? Into the darkest expanses until his mortality took him?

"I might be the Goddess of War, Percy, but I am also a mother. I want to see her happy and safe above all else." Percy nodded firmly, not so much to what he heard, but to what Athena was really saying; I am a mother and if you hurt my daughter, I will pull all motherly and godly power to rip you fiber from fiber.

"Mother!" Percy whipped around to see Annabeth leaning heavily on the rail of the boat just above the stairs. She was panting, as if simply climbing up was all of her strength.

"Annabeth! What are you doing?!" Percy ran to help Annabeth stand. Athena was close behind.

"Hello, mother. How... how are you?" Annabeth seemed nervous about the exchange between her boyfriend and her mother. Percy slipped her arm over his shoulders to try and take most of her weight himself.

"Fine, dear. Just came to have a word with Percy and to see how you were fairing."

"I'm... fine. Recovering."

"Percy says my blessing 'fried' your brain?" Annabeth shot an annoyed glance at Percy.

"It's not that bad. Just headaches."

"Mm. Well, let's get you into bed again and get you better shall we?"

"You're not... you're not going to lecture me?"

"Another time, Annabeth. A lecture right now would not be conducive to your recovery."

-=-=-=-=-=-

After Percy and Athena placed Annabeth in her bed, Athena left with a final warning glare at him. Their conversation had been stewing in his mind as they brought Annabeth back down to her room. It bothered him more than he thought.

"Annabeth?"

"Yeah?" Percy was starting to fidget. He didn't know how to ask or say what he was thinking. It was making him nervous. What if it made her rethink things?

"Percy?" Annabeths face grew concerned. "Did something happen? Did my mother say something?"

"No! Well- partially. I guess. Yeah. I don't know..." He took a deep breath to collect himself. "Annabeth, why are you with me?"

"What?"

"Why are you with me?" Percy repeated. Annabeth stared at him for several moments, confused.

"I don't understand the question."

"Why are _you_ dating _me?" _He was growing increasingly frustrated.

"What is this all about, Percy?"

"It's just... You're great. You're a genius who is also gorgeous _and_ fit _and_ nice and you could be with any guy you wanted, if you stopped threatening them long enough that is... Why are you with someone like me?"

Despite her best efforts, Annabeth started to smile. "What do you mean, 'someone like me'?"

"It's just sometimes I wonder what you see in me. You're all these amazing things but you're stuck with me; a guy who can hardly stay in school a year without getting into all kinds of trouble from failing classes to setting the school on fire. Why?" Annabeth stared at him long and hard, her smile very slowly falling with the realization that he was being serious. Several moments passed between them and Percy was starting to wonder if she really _was _starting to doubt their relationship.

Annabeth groaned suddenly, pinching the space between her eyes causing Percy to jump. She held her fingers there for a few seconds before sighing and turning an irritated look at Percy.

"Percy, just get into bed." She said as she flipped the blankets up. He hesitated.

"Why haven't you answered the question?"

"Because you obviously have more seaweed in that brain than I thought and once this headache goes away, I'll give you reasons but for now, just know that I love you and nothing has ever made me doubt that so get into bed before I give you a list of chores that need doing." Percy smiled an quickly joined her once again.


	14. The Talk 2

Percy

Percy didn't stay in bed for long. In the few moments his eyes were shut, his father appeared in his dreams telling him to meet him upstairs. Reluctantly, he put his pants back on and went to the deck.

Either everyone was still asleep or Poseidon told them all to stay there for a while because the deck was like a ghost town. The ship was on auto pilot back towards New York and moving at a nice steady speed through the now warming air of late morning.

Percy took a look around in search of his father who wasn't hard to find. His father looked annoyingly like some model on a yacht for a magazine by sporting a blue and white striped shirt, khakis, a pair of Ray Bans, and a bronze anchor around his neck. Despite looking like a sailing model, he gave Percy an unenthusiastic wave.

"Hey, dad. What's up?" It felt weird to Percy to be speaking to a god like this but he didn't know how else to talk to his dad. He didn't seem to mind or mind.

"The sky? Why would you ask that? Anyway, how's the girlfriend doing? Took a bit of a tumble into the sea earlier."

"'A bit of a tumble' is one way of putting it," Percy grumbled. "She's doing better. Her bones are back together and stuff just her head isn't doing so well."

"What's wrong with her head other than it holds way too much information?"

"When she found us again, we were fighting a giant and of course she joined in." Poseidon laughed and nodded. " Athena gave her a blessing since Annabeth's bones were still a mess." To this, Poseidon looked momentarily shocked but quickly collected himself.

"Risky... I'm sure she had a good reason for that, Percy."

"Yeah... she did. Athena came to talk with me just before." Poseidon's face scrunched with sympathy for his son. "It was fine. She didn't threaten to kill me... too much."

"Well, my niece can be a little... _intense_ sometimes... Understandably though. Annabeth _is _her daughter."

"I just wish Annabeth told me before she did any of this..."

"I'm sure she hid it from you for a reason, son." As his father said this, Percy tried to tame his feelings on the subject by looking out to the sea, squinting his eyes in the harsh light.

"The giant was after me. Annabeth was trying to protect me. He would have destroyed me if he got to me." Percy's irritation at himself for being so weak was growing more and more.

"Huh. Good riddance then." Percy shot his father a look who simply put his hands up in front of himself. "Hey, I'm not saying I'm happy she got hurt but the girl knows what she's doing. She took care of the giant, right?"

"She almost died."

"But she didn't. That's the difference."

"Yeah, I guess. Hey dad, about that... thanks. For helping her, I mean." Thanks didn't cover what Percy felt for his father at this point. Poseidon wasn't just the man who helped create him, he was now the man that was protecting him physically and mentally.

"Hm? For what?"

"For keeping Annabeth from hitting the water. She would have died from the impact. You _know _she would have."

"Oh. She told you then? I honestly didn't know if she'd even remember. She was really banged up there."

"Yeah, I know. I saw."

"You did?" Percy nodded in response. Poseidon thought for a moment before saying anything else.

"How horrible do you feel for not being able to protect her, Percy?" Percy gaped at his father. The question threw him off. Of course he felt terrible, the worst of the worst not worth letting stand but shouldn't parents be more compassionate? Less harsh? More... encouraging? "Well?"

The word "horrible" barely escaped Percy's throat.

"Don't. I mean, yes. Of course you _should _feel horrible. That's normal. Your girlfriend got punched, smashed, broken, cut, nearly defeated," Poseidon didn't noticed his son's face turning green with nausea, "trying to protect you. But you know what? You can't protect her all the time. You might want to. You might think you can or have the ability to but Percy, think about it this way; can you see Annabeth staying in a heavily fortified house all day waiting for you to protect her?"

Percy thought about it for the second time, since he had already considered forbidding her to leave camp Half-Blood with excuses that it was for her own good, but the only thing he could see in his mind was Annabeth giving him a look that said simply, "no". When he honestly and truly thought about it, he knew it would be wrong. Annabeth had more than proven herself a strong force, both in mind and body. He had no right to keep her locked up. Besides, without her with him, he'd probably fail walking out the door. Percy sighed.

"Annabeth doesn't seem like the kind of girl that would allow that. She'd go crazy. No matter how much she cares for you, Percy, she would never let herself be 'protected'. My niece is the same way."

"Why would you try to protect the Goddess of War?" Percy was brought to ask. Poseidon shrugged.

"Sometimes you feel like, as an uncle, you should be protecting your niece, no matter how strong or powerful or war-like she is. Anyway, Percy. The point I'm trying to make is that you have to let her do what she will. Maybe it would be different if she wasn't as smart or skilled, but she's Annabeth. You have to trust her. She knows what's needed. Sometimes you need to be there to have her back. Sometimes she'll fall and you'll have to help her up again but you can't wrap her up in... oh what's that fun mortal stuff they wrap packages in?"

"Bubble wrap?"

"YES! Bubble wrap! Love that stuff. So calming to pop. Anyway, you can't roll her in the stuff, give her a helmet, and put her in a corner-less room. She's a tough one. Trust her. Alright?" Poseidon broke out a wide smile that was so warm feeling that Percy couldn't help but smile back and nod slightly. Getting fatherly advice was still strange to Percy, but he was enjoying it. It was nice to have another man to get advice from.

"So! When should I expect grandkids?" Percy nearly fell over. He stopped breathing. He wanted to run or vomit or cry or stand perfectly still and hope to disappear. Percy seemed to be accomplishing half of that last idea.

"Not... not for a while? Not anytime soon? Why? Do you know something I don't?" Percy was suddenly very nervous and overwhelmed by the need to run to Annabeth, wake her up and ask. He still seemed to be stuck in "stand perfectly still mode" however.

"Ohhh so you _have _slept together! Thought so!" All the blood left Percy's face. Did he melt into a puddle? He couldn't tell. He couldn't check. He couldn't convince his own arms to check for his own existence. If he hadn't melted into a bloodless puddle on the deck floor, he was hoping Athena would come down and finally make him catch fire.

Oh gods.

Athena.

Now Percy's mind went into a fight or flight mode. Surely death was coming. Death was near. Did he have time to make a last wish? Maybe a call to his mother? A blue cookie? Anything?

This flood of panicked thoughts happened within a millisecond but seemed to Percy to take years.

"Hope you took the proper protection measures!"

"DAD."

"What? I could sense it the second I got here! You smell like you mixed with some Athenian now. It happens, Percy. Demigods and mortals can't tell. Seriously though, did you use protection? Your mom is going to kill me if you didn't and you slept with her before I could have 'the talk' with you."  
Percy was getting dizzy but managed a nod.

"Good! Now, I better be getting off. You go back and prepare for the rest of your mission and what not. Tell Annabeth I said 'hello'." Percy was nodding. Why was he still talking? He didn't want to be on this deck stewing in his own embarrassment anymore. "Oh and Percy, about your mission, you have a few more giants left. At least... 3 or 4? You'll figure it out." With that the god of the sea was gone.

Percy  
  
Percy quickly opened and closed Annabeth's bedroom door behind him and sunk to the floor in horror and relief. At least it was over it. He could finally breath. His body was still there. He wasn't on fire.

"Percy? What happened?!" Annabeth said from her bed, worried at his sudden and speedy entrance.

"Dad and I talked." Percy's eyes were wide and zoned out as if he has seen something horrible.

"And? What happened?"  
"He uh... he says 'hello'." Neither of them moved. Annabeth only began to nod very slowly once she realized that was the end of his story for the moment.

"O...kay? Anything else? Because hello isn't horrifying usually." Percy's eyes still started at the floor near Annabeth's bed, far away from him.

"The talk was going... well," he said slowly. "He gave me advise about you..."

"Wait- what?" Annabeth interrupted him flatly but Percy either didn't want to stop or didn't notice her interjection.

"And then he-"

"Advise about me. What does that mean?"

"-mentioned that-"

"PERCY." She nearly yelled. Percy jumped and look at her quickly. "What advice about me? Does he not like me?"

"No! He said I shouldn't feel _too _guilty about what you did against the giant. That it wasn't my fault and that you're strong enough to take care of yourself. Stuff like that."

"Oh." Annabeth said in a small, pleasantly surprised voice. "So why do you look like you fought Medusa?" Percy looked at her for a few long seconds before looking at the floor again.

"He asked me questions about us sleeping together." At first, Annabeth didn't see a huge problem with this. In fact, she almost laughed. Yes, it was embarrassing but not horrible unless Percy said-

The blood left Annabeth's face.

"Did you say yes?!"

"No! Well, kind of! He guessed! Then he kept asking me about us using protection and augh..." Percy slid over to his side on the floor.

"How did he know?"

"He said he could sense it or smell it or something. Said demigods and mortals can't tell but everyone else can." Annabeth's mind was going a million miles per second which was threatening to summon a monster headache again.

"The giant I fought said the same thing..." Annabeth stopped breathing and moving all together that her sudden and complete stillness caused Percy to become alarmed. "Oh no."

"What? What is it?" Percy couldn't handle more bad news. He saw Annabeth gulp. She didn't looked scared, just horrified which, knowing the topic of the conversation, was probably worse at this point. She spoke slowly once she had the ability to speak again.

"Percy... that means my mom could probably sense it too. My mom probably knows we slept together."

Maybe it was a defense mechanism or something of the sort, but Percy's mind didn't take that in right away. Her words were just noises. Slowly, ever so slowly, his brain processed every word individually then connected them to form the proper sentence.

The noise that escaped Percy could probably be best described as his body trying to escape itself to run and hide and never return to see light or air or _anything._

authors note:

Woah, woah, woah, people. I got something wrong. It was 4am when I wrote this. Everyone chill.  
It's all fixed. Take a breather angry readers on the net.  
Thanks for letting me know!


	15. The Proposition

Annabeth

Annabeth couldn't take being in bed anymore. She could stay in a room for hours without noticing if she had something to _do_ at least but at the moment she wasn't doing anything. Planning was still out of the question. At least her bones were all back together and mended.

Percy, or at least his brain, decided to try and move on from his previous conversation with Poseidon by exercising on deck. Admittedly, at first Annabeth was horrified that her mother and Percy's father knew about Annabeth and Percy sleeping together. Once she got over the initial shock, Annabeth started wondering why her mother didn't bring it up earlier. Maybe she didn't think the timing was right? Maybe she felt guilty for what her blessing did to her daughter? Whatever the reason, she was glad her mother decided to keep it to herself. Annabeth wasn't sure she could handle the embarrassment on top of her headaches.

Finally cracking to the boredom, Annabeth threw her blankets off and moved to the deck. Her body ached but given that, just days before, she couldn't breathe without pain... she'd take the general achy feeling any day.

Reaching the outdoors, Annabeth breathed deeply. The smell of the midday air was wonderful. She looked around the deck for her friends. Percy was talking with Jason and Piper on the far end while Leo lazily drove the ship and played with some toy he created.

"Annabeth!" Piper said, spotting her best friend walking towards them. "How're the bones feeling? Should you really be out of bed?"

"Augh. If I have to spend one more minute in that room anytime soon, I'll scream." Annabeth stood between Percy and Piper.

"How's your head?" Percy asked. Annabeth just shrugged in response. "I really wish you'd go back into bed..."

"I'd rather be up here making sure you're not getting into trouble," Annabeth joked.

"If you've given yourself the job of keeping Percy out of trouble then you'll never get a moment alone," Jason said, laughing.

"Oh thanks, lightning boy."

"Hey guys!" Leo yelled to the trio. "I know you've forgotten about me over here but Chiron's calling! But, hey! What do I know? I'm just the fire guy... over here... all alone. Sailing this ship back to New York, all alone. In a ship I _built..._"

"'All alone'. Yeah, yeah. We hear you, toasty. Would you like more attention?" Piper said, smirking. Her tone switched to the one she uses when she sees a friendly, cute dog and said "Aw _wittle Weo! Good job! Flying this ship all by yourself! You're almost like a big boy!"_ Leo laughed and swatted at Piper and brought up the Iris call from Chiron.

"Chiron! How's it going, fearless camp director?" Leo asked.

"We uh... we have an interesting situation over here." Chiron said with a tone of confusion.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"The giant is here..." The centaurs face twisted slightly in confusion and thought.

"What?!" The group said together.

"But he's just sitting outside of the camp. He says he's erm.. _waiting_."

"Waiting? For what?" asked Percy. Chiron paused and looked hesitantly at the group.

"For Annabeth..." Everyone turned to look at her who was just as confused as everyone else.  
"Why me?"

"We don't know. He only said he's waiting for you." Annabeth though for a few long seconds. There was nothing she could really do. She'd have to see what he wanted.

"Alright. Leo, how long until we're there?"

"A giant at camp? Give me an hour, I'll make this baby fly! ...I mean, 'fly' meaning, 'faster-than-usual' flying. The ships already _flying_..."

/-/-/-/-/

The group arrived slightly under an hour, much to Leo's pride though the seriousness of his friends faces kept him from boasting much. Annabeth's face seemed to be set in stone as the weight of the meeting with the giant loomed over her. Her mind still hadn't fully recovered from the blessing though her body was back to normal. If it came down to a fight, she'd have to rely on Percy and the others though she wouldn't be useless now that her body was almost normal.

What did the giant want with her specifically? Did he want something from her mother? What did she have that the others didn't? Maybe something about her role at the camp? Annabeth's mouth twisted as she grew frustrated at the growing headache as she thought about this.

"Annabeth." She turned around to look at Percy. His face was set and rigged as he looked at her. She already knew what he was going to say.

"Percy-" She said stopping just before exiting the ship and onto the camp grounds.

"No, Annabeth. Listen." He walked closer to her and spoke quietly yet sternly. "You will _not _fight this giant alone. _Please. _I know you're strong. I know you can handle yourself. But," his face flickered as his eyes became distant for a moment and tiredness grew, "Annabeth... I almost lost you before. I really thought I did. Please... don't make me go through that again. I... I can't. Not again." The tenderness in his voice caught Annabeth off guard. It hurt her to see how much she had hurt him, even if she hadn't meant to.

"Percy... I can't promise I won't fight him. He's threatening the camp, the only home I really ever had. I _can _promise," she added quickly as he opened his mouth to argue, "that I won't fight the giant without you or without telling you first. How's that?" He made a noise of concern and frustration. "Percy..." Annabeth said in a tone filled with warning.

"Augh... fine. Fine. Let's just get this over with." Annabeth had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. He was just worried and she guessed he had the right to after what she did.

Finally they disembarked and rejoined Piper, Leo, and Jason who was now talking to Chiron just outside the ship. Member of the various houses at the camp were huddled around, wanting to know what was going on.

The air was a mix of worry and excitement. The older kids were wary. They knew what could happen with a giant and for one to be in the camp something had to be wrong. The younger kids were too inexperienced to really know. A number of them were scared since Camp Half-blood had always been a place where they could live in safety. Chiron was fidgeting in place, growing impatient as he waited for everything to be over.

"Finally, you're all here. Annabeth. Listen. Clarisse is watching him right now to make sure he isn't doing anything. He hasn't told us what he wanted other than he wanted to see Annabeth. I don't like this. I don't like going in blind. " He was leading them quickly now to where the giant was located.

"Neither do I. Do you have any idea what he wants with me? Why me?" Annabeth said trying to keep up with the four legged camp counselor.

"I don't know. I don't know anything. I don't like any of this. Keep your distance, Annabeth." She nodded and turned towards her friends, stopping momentarily as they grew closer to the giant.

"Here's the plan. Give us a wide space. If he tries anything, I'll be the only one in range. Leo, make sure the ship is ready for any kind of battle. He could have troops laying around, waiting for us all to be distracted during our... whatever he wants. Get those surveillance things up. We want to know the second anything happens. The faster the better." Leo nodded, whistled to a few of his siblings that had gathered close in the excitement, and ran to get the defenses up.

"Piper, I'll need you close by. Keep a safe distance, but if I need you to talk him down, you need to be ready." The daughter of Aphrodite nodded. While Piper was obviously nervous for her friend, she knew getting upset about it wouldn't help anything. She had to keep a clear mind. Keep up the confidence. She had to be able to help and she would do just that. Piper was strong and would not let herself get flustered.

"Jason, keep close to Piper. Protect her if something happens. Defend the camp otherwise. Piper's charmspeak is extremely strong. They might already know about it and make her a target." Jason nodded but there was no need to tell him any of this. Since they got the call from Chiron, Jason had already been sticking close to Piper without realizing it.

"Percy. Stay close to them _and _me. If anything happens, I'll need your help. Wait for me to call though. I don't want to start a fight over something that might turn out to be nothing. Alright?" Percy didn't look happy with this but he knew he'd have to accept it.

Annabeth took a deep breath and steadied herself. The headache was dying down with each deep breath.

Her thoughts straightened out. She'd have to trust her instincts from here on out. She put on the face she used when she had to fake her confidence. Nose up, eyes focused, chin squared, no emotion showing.  
She exhaled slowly and walked towards the giant.

He was standing ankle deep in the water, slight smile on his face as if amused by the commotion. Clarisse stood on the shore, her usual spear in one hand, helmet and armor dawned. As Annabeth went to stand beside her, she saw that Clarisse just looked a little bored.

"About time you showed up." Clarisse said dismissively. Annabeth was used to the tone. It wasn't that the daughter of Ares was cruel or mean, she just had a rough way of talking.

"What's he been doing?"

"Just standing there. Wouldn't it be better if we just killed him? He's in the camp. It doesn't get much easier than that."

"No. We have to find out what he wants. It could help us figure out what the other giants want."

"Augh. Talking is so boring."

"If he tries to attack the camp, then have at him. Otherwise, let's see what he wants."

"Let's hope you mess up then. Do your thing, Blondie." Oddly enough, the conversation with Clarisse helped her confidence. If Clarisse thought Annabeth couldn't handle it, she'd have gone in and done it herself by now. The fact that Clarisse was letting Annabeth go first told Annabeth that she believed she could do it.

Annabeth looked over her shoulder to tell her friends to stay near Clarisse, that that was as close as they should get. They looked tense. Annabeth looked back at the giant and continued forward. Just as her feet touched the reaching edges of the tide, she came to a stop. Feeling the water at her feet was comforting. It reminded her that Percy was there. That he'd always be there.

"Ahh. Finally. The daughter of Athena." Annabeth started up at him. The giant, as giants go, wasn't particularly _giant_ looking. He was extremely tall, of course, but other than that he didn't look like other giants. The giant was well groomed unlike any of the other she had met. He had a beard that was cut close to his face and his hair was fairly short. His eyebrows sat low, putting his eyes in such a deep shadow that they were almost unable to be seen. His skin seemed like chameleon scales in some places but then seemed to seamlessly go back into normal skin. He wore a mortal looking suit that Annabeth couldn't even fathom where he'd find a suit like that. "Extra-Extra-Extra-Extra Big and Tall"?

Something about his face seemed off putting, as if it was trying too hard to be normal. All of his features were too wide, like his smile, or just slightly off enough to make one uncomfortable.

It was unsettling. That was it, Annabeth realized. Everything about this giant was unsettling. He looked like he was trying to be mortal but couldn't understand the proportions of what made a human face.  
Annabeth didn't trust him at all.

"You requested to see me." The giant smiled wider. His lips reached the outer courners of his eyes. Annabeth fought down a shiver.

"Yes. I did." The giant attempted to speak warmly but failed so much that it just sounded that much colder. His voice was deep and rough. Again, it seemed to be trying to be like a handsome, movie actors voice but went too far and just became abrasive. "I have a proposition for you. See, I was told to take care of a certain group of snooping demi-gods but... I'm not really one for fighting. Too... brutish." The giant tilted his head down and adjusted the cufflink on his wrist which was shaped like a castle tower. "I prefer to use my brain."

Annabeth felt her face tighten. A giant that used it's brain? There was no way. There had to be a catch. The giant seemed to catch this and laughed.

"I know, I know. 'A giant with a brain'? I admit it's a bit rare."

"So what do you want?"

"I want," that giant said as he reached into the pocket of his giant suit blazer. Annabeth felt all of Camp Half-Blood tense. What came out of his pocket, however, wasn't what any one at the camp would have ever thought it would be. A small, two toned checkered box sat, dwarfed in the giants fingers. "To play a chess game with you."

A chess board.


	16. The Game

Percy

Percy's body relaxed slightly and he almost even blew out a sigh of relief. Some of the campers actually did. A few were already thinking about what they'd have for dinner.

A chess game? Against Annabeth? This guy had no idea who he was challenging. Percy had tried playing a round against her once and swore never again when she got him in a checkmate in two moves. That was just pathetic.

Annabeth seemed to be frozen in place, not even remembering to breathe. Percy knew she was trying to think of a catch to the whole thing. Still, in her confusion she remembered to keep her poker face on.

"What's at stake?" Annabeth asked flatly.

"Hm... well. What do you want if you win? Which you won't, by the way, but amuse me anyway." The giant replied, seemingly still amused by everything. Percy mainly just wanted the giant to go away so he'd have to stop looking at him. The giant was the weirdest looking one he'd seen yet and that was saying something though he didn't know why it bothered him so much. It was as if every time Percy looked at the giant, he could _only _think about how weird he looked and nothing else.

"For you and your siblings to leave and never come near or attack this camp, AND the Roman camp, ever again." Annabeth said sternly after thinking about it a few moments. The giant simply nodded slightly and wore his usual stupid snake like grin.

"Sure, sure. And if _I _win," Percy tensed "I'll level your... what did you call it? 'Camp'? Cute. I'll level your _camp_ and take you with me as a trophy."

_Ohhh good_, Percy thought. '_A trophy'. Nothing too horrible. Just be a prize, dead or alive, for a creepy half snake, half human giant in a giants lair with all his siblings probably in some sketchy volcano trophy room. Just like a trophy you get when you win chess tournaments where after you get to destroy a safe haven for demi-gods. Nothing creepy or freakish about THAT request.  
_  
Annabeth looked back at Percy making direct eye contact. She was asking him what he thought. She knew. She knew before she even looked at him but she was keeping good on her promise to let him know before she did anything. Percy didn't even have to say a word.

Then she looked at Piper who nodded slightly. Jason didn't move, he just stood by his girlfriend. He knew Annabeth wasn't really asking him, just informing him. Annabeth glanced over at Clarisse who really looked bored now. Clarisse had started picking her nails with the tip of her spear and shrugged. A murmured "whatever" escaped the girls lips. Clarisse just wanted to go back to practice but she was _not _going to let this giant out of her sight even if he was boring. Annabeth turned back to face the giant.

"Alright. Are we doing typical rules? Like, 'once you take your fingers off a piece your turn is over' kind of rules?" Annabeth asked.

"Your mortal tournament rules, yes."

-/-/-/-/-/-

The game started with a tense, quiet air. The demi-gods wanted to get closer, to see the game better, but Annabeth would only allow them to be close enough where the giant couldn't hit them with the swing of his arm.

The giant had chosen a weird location to play the match. It was in an open field. further away from the cabins and not really near anything in particular. From what Percy could see, there was no way he'd be able to launch a surprise attack if he had hidden some troops. He was out of range of the cabins, in plain view, and not many exit routes in case of emergency for him. Clarisse stayed behind at the camp just in case he was launching something in secret. She was sick of the giant anyway so she was more than happy to find another job to do than just standing watching a chess game.

Annabeth's face was as solid as a statue's but Percy knew that underneath, her mind was raging. Percy saw her hand flinch every so often trying not to show how much her headaches were bothering her. There was nothing Percy could do but watch as turn by turn, the giant and the demi-god moved a piece by piece.

The match seemed to rage forever, a battle of wits so complicated that no one at the camp could truly follow. Some of Annabeth's siblings, if they could follow, knew better than to reveal her by nodding or discussing moves or plans. They stood by, supportive but distant.

The giant had started the match perfectly calm and confident. As the chess match continued, however, Percy noticed a change in his attitude. He was sitting forwards more, shielding his eyes from the sun so that no one could see where he was looking. His left fist had balled up into a slight fist from the tension. He took his turns more slowly as they went on. Thinking about each piece carefully before losing one or gaining one. Gaining a piece could be useless if it put one of his pieces at a disadvantage.

Just as Percy was wondering when it was going to be over, the giant smiled slightly. Annabeth stared, slightly panicked at the board making sure she hadn't missed anything. Percy looked but it didn't make too much sense to him at the moment. He understood chess, just not what the giant or Annabeth were trying to do.

"You can checkmate me in 6 moves. I can get you in 7. Well done." The giant said leaning back in his chair, putting his hands in his pockets. Annabeth stared at him without emotion. Even Percy couldn't read her. If he had to guess, she was waiting for him to attack.

"I win, then." Annabeth said. The giant's smile broadened more somehow. He looked over the field with his shielded eyes.

"Do you know why I chose this spot for the game, daughter of Athena?" He said without looking at her. She didn't answer so he moved on. "Oh, come on. You thought about it obviously. Why here? Everyone can see me. Open field. Open to attacks from your camp. Nowhere close enough to attack your camp even if I wanted to. So why here?"

Percy's mind was in overdrive. He thought about this. He thought about this so much while they were walking to it that he thought his brain would explode. There was nothing here. No advantage for the giant. He searched his brain more. Giant in an open field surrounded by an army?

Annabeth's face was rigid. She whispered something that only the giant was in range to hear. The giant exploded into roaring laughter. He whipped his hand out of his pocket and with it came a stick of sorts.

"But that was destroyed."

"But we rebuilt a small part right under your noses!"

"He can't be talking about..." Percy said, unable to breathe.

"That's right! THE LABRYNTH!" He yelled. The blood left Percy's face. His legs were already tightening to run forwards.

He was too late. The stick was a button. Percy realized this too late. It was pressed by the time Percy processed it all.

The ground exploded under Annabeth and the giant and before the dust cleared, they were already gone beneath the earth.

/-/-/-

By the time Annabeth came to, she was already in a room built with mossy stone. Her head was raging. The headache she had from the chess match was bad. Stack falling through the earth, with mass disappointment and annoyance at herself, and you had a recipe for one horror show of a headache.

How could she not think about the labyrinth? She should have known. It was the first quest she lead. She knew where it was. She knew it went under the camp. How could she not have thought about it?

Annabeth tried to assess the situation. She was chained to the wall by her wrists that we hanging above her head. Other than that, there wasn't much. The walls were extremely tall, probably tall enough for giants to walk in and out of when they wanted, and made of thick, cold stone. The room was pretty new but the smell of damp moss filled the room as if the stones were taken from a river or the ocean.

Her head raged from the surge of blood and she was forced to drop it again. No weapons, hands bound above her head to the wall, in a room attached to an extremely complicated system of corridors. _Wonderful, _Annabeth thought to herself.

"You may have won a match," a voice said. Annabeth lifted her head slightly to look towards the far wall. The chess playing giant stood there, snake like smile still on his face. "But I have won the war" he continued. Annabeth let her head drop again in an attempt to save her consciousness.

"What makes you think that?" Annabeth said to the ground, loudly enough for the giant to hear her.

"I have you locked up, no weapons, alone and hidden in a complicated labyrinth that none of your friends are clever enough to figure out. I think I won." Annabeth laughed slightly.

"I have a weapon. Many weapons really." Annabeth said, laughing to herself.

"No you don't. I checked."

"For one, I have my brain." In response to this, the giant laughed. Annabeth laughed too. He had no idea what her brain could do.

"Secondly, I have my camp and friends. But most importantly?" The giant stopped laughing but his smile remained. Annabeth lifted her head to stare at him straight in the eyes she couldn't see. "The son of Poseidon is _not _going to be happy."


	17. The Mission Giver

Percy

Percy wasn't just "not happy", he was furious. Again his girlfriend was taken. To make things worse, he was right there. _If only I were closer,_ Percy kept thinking.  
The hole left after the explosion was too deep for Percy to just jump in after her though he gave it a good shot. He even tried to force Jason to fly him down but the son of Zeus wouldn't, saying it was too dangerous. They needed more than just the two of them and there was no light as it was towards the bottom. Jason was right, of course, but that didn't stop Percy was fuming. They had to go get Annabeth was quickly as possible. Who knows that the giant wanted her for?

Piper had to charm speak him into sitting down and waiting until they had a plan. The daughter of Aphrodite was almost as angry as Percy was. She lost her best friend, _again. _Trying to stay calm mainly for Percy's sake, she was pacing slowly near the other campers.

Percy and Piper weren't the only ones that were angry. Clarisse was absolutely furious. Not really because Annabeth was lost, but because she wasn't there for the action. Percy was sure that part of her was upset she let a camper go missing while she was around but she was mainly angry about the lack of action. Swinging her spear, she was yelling at Percy as if he were the reason she wasn't there.

"Why didn't you call me?!" Clarisse yelled, swinging her spear in the air.

"Like I knew it was going to happen!" Percy yelled back, still forced to sit in place.

"Why didn't you call me sooner then?!"

"It's not my fault you weren't there!"

"Everybody calm down!" Chiron interjected. "We need a plan on how best to retrieve Annabeth for where ever she's been taken. While I would like to just storm in and get her, we need more information about the area below. I don't want to lose anyone else." Chiron looked around the room and met eyes with Percy.

"As for you, Percy. I think you need to talk to the one who gave you your quest. Follow me. The rest of you, start thinking. Clarisse, the plan you're thinking of right now? No."

Annabeth

Annabeth's arms had become extremely painful and sore from being chained above her head. That stopped being a problem when all of the blood drained so she could no longer feel them. Her newly repaired ribs were now broken or at least bruised again. Her headache had died down some time ago, giving her somewhat of a break from the barrage of bad luck. At least now she could think straight, not that it helped. There were more questions than answers rolling around in her head.

What did the giants want with her? The amount of giants with particular skills that were cropping up had to be connected. What did they want in general? They had to be after something.

Another question was, how was she going to get out of here? Percy and the others were on their way, she knew that for sure, but she couldn't just sit there and wait for him. Besides, how would he know where to look? Since Annabeth was unconscious for the trip into this room, she didn't know how many hallways or rooms there were down here. She needed more information.

A loud grounding noise came from the end of the room Annabeth was trapped in. A giant opened the opposite side of the room and walked in. This one he hadn't seen before. He looked just like any normal giant.

"You come with me." The giant said, clumsily. His voice was too loud for the stone room and shook Annabeth's bones. The giant then turned and walked back towards the door.  
"Uh." Annabeth said, more to get the giants attention than anything. The giant turned and remembered that she was bound.

"Oh." The giant laughed cruelly, "right." He stomped over and ripped the chains out of the wall, the weight of the restraints causing Annabeth to drop her arms onto her own head. Her arms were still completely numb. The giant grabbed her with a giant hand and carried her harshly out of the room, her ribs throbbing from the renewed pain.

As they walked, Annabeth memorized the layout of the rooms and their locations as best she could despite the growing lump on her head. There weren't many rooms, but they were all large enough to house any giant that entered.

Eventually, Annabeth and the giant made it into a large well lit room lined with machines and screens of all sizes. The room buzzed with power.  
In the middle of the room sat the giant she faced up on the camp grounds. He sat there, grinning, still as arrogant as he was when they first met.

"Hello, mortal." He said without moving. "Like this room? Didn't think giants could use machines like these, did you? Granted, the tiny buttons were a problem but once we got passed that it wasn't so bad." Annabeth didn't respond.

"We have a reason for all of these machines, of course. Just like we have a reason for taking you. Otherwise, we couldn't care less about your silly '_demi-god' _doings. I'm annoyed to say that we need you. More importantly... we need your brain." The giant stood up and started to walk around before glancing at the other giant to put Annabeth down, chain her back to a wall and leave. He obeyed, leaving Annabeth chained with her hands above her head again.

"You're not the only demi-god we need though. We need another for this and I'm happy to say we already have him." The giant walked over to a machine in the corner of the room and pulled out a case and opened it so Annabeth could see. As soon as the contents were revealed, the blood left Annabeth's face.

The box contained Clovis, the leader of the Hypnos cabin.

Percy  
  
Percy was brought to the meeting room in the middle of the camp. Inside, Hypnos sat in a chair, asleep as always.

"Hypnos? I brought Percy." Chiron spoke loudly to wake the god who in response, stirred and sat up slowly.

"Percy. Again. Are you on a quest to make sure I never sleep again? Because you're doing a good job so far."

"I think it's time you told Percy about his quest." Chiron responded, taking a seat by the table. The god moaned slightly in response then suddenly became alarmingly alert as if he'd just consumed all the coffee in New York City.

"Do you know who gave you your quest, Percy?" Percy shook his head. "I did." Percy was surprised. The god hadn't been particularly helpful during this mission so he couldn't see why he'd have given them it in the first place. "You see, my son is missing. Well, not missing. Taken. He was taken. The giants have him. The giants you've been hunting the past few days. I'm sorry it's been difficult and caused you some stress, but it's extremely important that my son is returned. Not just because he is my son, but because he is powerful. Very, very powerful. Maybe not as powerful as you, but still. If his power is used correctly, who knows what they could accomplish."

Hypnos stared straight into Percy's eyes to a degree of making Percy extremely uncomfortable. He seemed to be burrowing into Percy's mind.

"I don't know why they have Annabeth but when you get her, get my son too. I don't like it. Her brain, his power. These things together can't be good." Percy looked at Hypnos for a long second before dropping his eyes, wondering how to phrase his next question without sounding offensive.

"Uh, sorry, sir. From what I remember about Clovis is that he just... _sleeps_ a lot. What can he do that's so scary?" Hypnos stared into Percy's soul again.

"Percy. What happens when you sleep? You rest, you dream, you gather your thoughts, it helps your mood sometimes, it helps you make sense of whatever happened the day prior. Imagine if you didn't sleep for a night. Aggravation, short tempter, falling asleep all over of the place, not being able to think straight. Now, a few days? A week? What would mortals do with no rest, just one long day? What if the opposite happened? What if they slept for too long? How much would they forget? What would they miss out on? They could sleep through the end of the planet and they would never know." Percy started to see Hypnos' point.

"You need to get them. You need to get them very, very quickly."


End file.
